Shane MacGowan's wife praised Wham! After the 80s pop duo beat The Pogues to number one on Christmas.
The MacGowan Band were vying for the top of the charts with their collaboration with Kirsty MacColl, “Fairytale of New York”, against Wham! “Last Christmas” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Fans of The Pogues have been cheering for the 'Fairytale of New York' following McGowan's death aged 65 in November, with his wife, Irish writer and journalist Victoria Mary Clarke, lending her support to the campaign.
Originally released in 1987, the song peaked at No. 2, and was kept from the top of the charts by the Pet Shop Boys' cover of “Always on My Mind.”
It has returned to the UK Christmas Top 40 every year since 2005, but has never reached number one.
After an unusually fierce chart battle, which followed five consecutive years in which the LadBaby duo claimed the Christmas No. 1 spot, it was revealed that Wham! It achieved the coveted status, 39 years after its first release in 1984.
Featuring Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael, Wham! They missed out on Christmas No. 1 on their first attempt after “Do They Know It's Christmas?” For Band Aid. Take the address.
Meanwhile, “Fairytale of New York” reached number six on the UK Christmas Singles Chart 2023, while Eurovision's Sam Ryder took second place with his new single “You're Christmas to Me”.
Andrew Ridgley with his No. 1 Christmas 2023 trophy
(official charts)
“I love Wham!!! We loved George,” Clark wrote on X/Twitter on Christmas Eve, celebrating Wham!'s achievement!
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Reacting to the news on Friday, December 22, Ridgley said in a statement: “Last Christmas has finally climbed to the highly coveted official number one Christmas, which was always the main goal.
“George would be out of his control (that) after all these years, (we) finally got Christmas No. 1. He wrote Last Christmas with the intention of writing Christmas No. 1,” Jug (Michael) said.
“Mission accomplished.”
Michael, who had an extensive solo career with hit singles including “Careless Whisper”, died on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of 53.
Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said it was difficult to remember “the No. 2 Christmas artist more than Sam Ryder”, who has played more than 30 shows in the past seven days as part of his efforts to reach the top. Chart.
“Sam has truly made this a chart battle to remember – and he should take comfort in the many years it took for an iconic song like ‘Last Christmas’ to garner this most valuable chart achievement,” he said. “We can only hope Sam doesn't have too long to wait. Great job Sam – you're already a winner in our eyes!”
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