Neal Ulevich/AP
British pop duo Wham! performs in Beijing on April 7, 1985.
CNN –
It turns out the UK Christmas charts are a real thing – not a replacement for the classic film Love Actually – and a certain popular band have made it to the top this year with one of their most popular hits.
“Last Christmas” by Wham! – the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley – was named the top song on BBC Radio 1's official Christmas chart list.
In a social media post shared by Wham! As Ridgeley posted on both the official account and Official Charts account on Friday, he responded to the news, saying in a video: “George would be beside himself after all these years if he finally hit the Christmas number.” 1 (Point).”
Ridgeley went on to say it felt like “mission accomplished,” adding that Michael wrote the song with the intention of reaching the milestone.
The love of Wham! and “Last Christmas” was noticeable this year.
Earlier this week, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney of Welcome to Wrexham took to Instagram to spoof the band and, in particular, the Last Christmas album image.
The photo was in black and white and framed similarly to the cover photo of the hit Christmas single, in which Reynolds sported Michael's famous curly blonde hair.
“WREXHAM!” The caption on the photo McElhenney posted to his Instagram account read.
“Last Christmas” was originally recorded by Wham! published. in December 1984. At that time it was number two in the UK Singles Chart for five weeks in a row.
The song has since been covered by many artists including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Jimmy Eat World and the Backstreet Boys.
Ridgeley is the surviving member of Wham! after Michael died on Christmas Day almost seven years ago in 2016.