People don’t seem to have gotten enough of the Christmas hit yet.
In 2024 Wham! the 40th anniversary of their hit “Last Christmas”. Appropriately, the song reached a new high in the Billboard Hot 100. For Andrew Ridgeley, it was very important to be so high in the US charts, as he said in an interview.
“Last Christmas” reaches new highest ranking
“Last Christmas” peaked at number three on the Dec. 14 Billboard Hot 100. According to “Billboard,” the song worked its way up from 18th place at the beginning of December. The British duo’s song broke its own record: fourth place was previously its highest placement on the US chart. Meanwhile (as of December 20th) “Last Christmas” is back in fourth place in the charts.
“We placed a lot of emphasis on being successful in the States”
For the 61-year-old Ridgeley, “extremely satisfying,” as he told the “Billboard Pop Shop Podcast.” “You know, Yog [ein Spitzname für den 2016 verstorbenen George Michael]we placed a lot of emphasis on being successful in the States. Back then, for any artist, you were nowhere in the States without a big deal. You could be big in the UK, but the States were the golden prize, really.” And: “We were lucky… and one or two of our contemporaries, we had great success in the States.”
It was clear to the Brit: “The fact that the song reached its current chart position… George would have been overjoyed, just like I am. And it would have meant a lot to him.” Ridgeley’s bandmate, George Michael, died on December 25th at his home in Goring-On-Thames, two hours east of London. The cause of his death has long been shrouded in rumors due to his suspected drug use.
“Last Christmas”: anniversary EP and Netflix documentary
“Last Christmas” was first released in 1984. Wham! are celebrating this milestone anniversary! now with a LAST CHRISTMAS 40TH ANNIVERSARY edition. The EP has been available on vinyl, CD and digital since December 13th. What can be found on it: In addition to the classic, there is also a mix of the track, an instrumental version and a previously unreleased live version of the song, which was brought on stage by Michael at Wembley in London in 2006.
The Christmas special “Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped” has also been available on Netflix since December 15th. The documentary is about how Michael and his bandmate Andrew Ridgeley created the track together and made it a (Christmas) sensation.