News 28 December 2019

Mariah Carey Returns to #1 For Christmas

Mariah Carey Returns to #1 For Christmas

Her second year in a row at the top.

#1: Mariah Carey ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ – ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ tops the ARIA Singles Chart for the second year in a row. It’s a strange journey for the holiday classic, having been released in 1994 where it peaked at #2. In the streaming era, the song returned to the Top 10 for the first time in 2017 and hit #1 for the first time in its 24-year history in 2018. This week sees its second spell at number 1 in Australia. It remains Carey’s third song to hit the top spot, following ‘Fantasy’ (#1, Oct ‘95) and We Belong Together (#1, Jun ‘05).
 
#3: Wham! ‘Last Christmas’ – Holiday favourite ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! moves into its highest ever chart position this week at #3. It also peaked at #3 before the ARIA Charts and had previously peaked at #5 in 2018. The song received an extra boost this year, with the song being used as a title and prominently in a new film directed by Emma Thompson.
 
#4: Michael Bublé ‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’ – It’s not Christmas without Michael Bublé, and the Canadian crooner has five songs in the Top 50 this week. His best performing single is ‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’, a new peak for the song which only cracked the Top 50 for the first time this year. Bublé also appears on the chart with ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’ (#19), ‘Jingle Bells’ (#24), ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ (#48) and ‘White Christmas’ (#50).
 
#13: John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ – Another Christmas track to reach a new peak for is ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ by John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band’, where it lands at a new career best of #13. The song was first released in 1971, a year and half after the Beatles announced their break-up. In Australia, the song reached the Top 10 in Christmas 1972, predating the ARIA Charts. It broke the Top 50 for the first time in 2018, where it peaked at #14.
 
#45: Paul Kelly ‘How To Make Gravy’ - Eighteen Christmas songs enter the ARIA Top 50 this week, and only one of them is Australian. Paul Kelly’s ‘How To Make Gravy’ has become part of the Christmas landscape in Australia. Released as the title track of a standalone EP in 1996, the track first cracked the Top 50 in 2018, where it peaked at #37.