The 17 Most Popular Christmas Songs in the UK (Listen Now)
Harriet Ashdown·Published
By the end of November it starts again: Mariah Carey in the supermarket, Wham! on the radio, and a school choir singing "Silent Night" at the Christmas market.
But which Christmas songs do Britons really love most? We went through the charts, streaming figures and polls. The result is the 17 most popular Christmas songs in the UK, from pop classics to carols.
You can listen to every song right here, without leaving the page.
And if the one song that is only about your family is still missing at the end: that exists too. We turn your names and memories into your own Christmas song, more on that right after Number 1.
How we made this list: No single source compares every Christmas song. So we combined three kinds of data. First, Official Charts Company figures (all-time streams, the biggest Christmas Number 1s and the 2025 Christmas charts). Second, UK certifications. Third, the YouGov Big Survey on Christmas, in which 4,243 adults named their favourite songs and carols. The top places are well backed by data. The lower ones are more of an editorial judgement of how widely a song is loved. All sources are listed at the end of the article.
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1. Last Christmas
Wham!1984Christmas No.1 in 2023 and 2024
George Michael wrote it in February 1984 and played every instrument on the record himself.7 It then spent five weeks at Number 2, stuck behind Band Aid, and remained the biggest UK single never to reach Number 1 until January 2021.7 The Christmas Number 1 it finally won in 2023, and again in 2024.4
In 2025 Kylie took the Christmas top spot, but Wham! were back at Number 1 in the final chart of the year.5 With 457 million UK streams by December 2024 it is the second most-streamed Christmas song in the country,2 and 13 per cent of Britons name it their favourite.1 Anyone playing "Whamageddon" (whoever hears it first in December loses) does not stand much of a chance.
2. All I Want for Christmas Is You
Mariah Carey1994Most-streamed in UK history
No Christmas song has been streamed more in the UK: 475 million plays by December 2024, just ahead of "Last Christmas".2 Yet it took a long time to get to the top. It peaked at Number 2 in 1994 and only reached Number 1 in December 2020, 26 years later.8
It is certified 10 times Platinum in the UK, which equals six million units.8 When the first "I don't want a lot for Christmas" plays in the supermarket in November, you know the season has started.
3. Fairytale of New York
The Pogues1987Britain's favourite
Ask Britons directly and this is the winner: 19 per cent chose it as their favourite Christmas song, more than any other.1 In 1987 the Pet Shop Boys kept it off Number 1 with "Always on My Mind", and it has come back into the Top 20 every Christmas since 2005.9
With 316 million streams it is the third most-streamed Christmas song in the UK.2
4. Merry Christmas Everyone
Shakin' Stevens1985Christmas No.1 1985
Recorded in 1984, then held back a whole year so it would not compete with Band Aid.10 The wait paid off: it became Christmas Number 1 in 1985 and is the fourth biggest Christmas Number 1 of all time.3 It has 267 million UK streams,2 and at any office Christmas party it is the song that gets even the shy ones moving.
5. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Brenda Lee1958Recorded aged 13
Brenda Lee was 13 when she recorded it in October 1958. In the UK it peaked at Number 6 in 1962 and climbed even higher in January 2023, to Number 4.11 It sits on 258 million streams2 and was Number 3 on the 2025 Christmas chart.4 Whether your tree is real or plastic, our Christmas tree statistics show which side most of the country is on.
6. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Michael Bublé20114x Platinum
Meredith Willson wrote the song in 1951, but in Britain it belongs to Michael Bublé. His 2011 recording reached Number 6 in 2022 and is certified 4 times Platinum.12 The Official Charts Company calls it the highest-placed modern Christmas song in its streaming ranking.2 Every year the internet jokes that he is defrosted on 1 November.
7. Do They Know It's Christmas?
Band Aid1984Biggest Christmas No.1 ever
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure wrote it, and more than 40 artists recorded it in a single day, 25 November 1984. It entered at Number 1 and sold a million copies in its first week.13
With 5.8 million chart units it is the biggest Christmas Number 1 of all time, ahead of Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" and "Bohemian Rhapsody".3
8. Driving Home for Christmas
Chris Rea1986Top 10 in 2025
Chris Rea wrote it in 1978, stuck in snowy traffic on the way home from London to Middlesbrough. It started life as a B-side and only reached Number 53 when it was re-released in 1988.14
Today it returns every December. In 2025 it took on a sadder meaning: after Rea died on 22 December, it climbed 20 places into the Top 10.5
9. Merry Xmas Everybody
Slade1973Christmas No.1 1973
Slade's sixth and last Number 1, released in December 1973, beating Wizzard to the Christmas top spot. By 2012 it had sold 1.32 million copies, and Noddy Holder calls it his "pension plan".15 Five per cent of Britons still name it their favourite.1
10. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Wizzard1973Top 40 every year since 2007
Roy Wood wrote and produced it, and had the studio decorated and chilled so the session would feel wintry. It peaked at Number 4 in 1973, lost the Christmas race to Slade, and has been back in the Top 40 every Christmas since 2007.16
11. Silent Night
Carol1818Favourite carol (28%)
Britain's favourite carol by a distance: 28 per cent chose it, far ahead of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" on 7 per cent.1 It was first sung on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf near Salzburg, has been translated into around 300 languages and was listed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.17
12. White Christmas
Bing Crosby1942Best-selling single ever
Irving Berlin wrote it for the film "Holiday Inn", and Crosby recorded it on 29 May 1942. With more than 50 million copies it is credited as the best-selling single in the world.18 Whether Britain actually gets one is another matter: our white Christmas statistics have the odds.
13. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
John Lennon1971No.2 in 1980
Recorded in New York in October 1971 with 30 children from the Harlem Community Choir. In the UK it reached Number 4 in 1972 and Number 2 in December 1980, after Lennon's death, behind a reissued "Imagine".19
14. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Carol1739Second favourite carol
Charles Wesley wrote the words in 1739, and the Mendelssohn tune was added in 1855. Since 1961 David Willcocks' arrangement has closed the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge.20 In the YouGov survey it came second among the carols.1
15. O Come, All Ye Faithful
Carol1751Nine Lessons favourite
The earliest printed version appears in John Francis Wade's collection of 1751, and Frederick Oakeley's English translation followed in 1841. It is the penultimate hymn at King's College's Nine Lessons and Carols.21 Five per cent of Britons name it their favourite carol.1
16. In the Bleak Midwinter
Carol1906Classic FM top 3
Christina Rossetti's poem appeared in 1872, and Gustav Holst set it to music for the English Hymnal of 1906, naming the tune after the village of Cranham in Gloucestershire.22 In Classic FM's 2025 vote for the nation's favourite carol, Holst's setting came second.6 Our recording is a different arrangement by the Choir of King's College.
17. Mistletoe and Wine
Cliff Richard1988Christmas No.1 1988
The song began in a 1976 musical, and Cliff rewrote the lyrics into something more religious. It spent four weeks at Number 1 and was the best-selling single of 1988.23 Love it or groan at it, it is still part of a British Christmas.
Song number 18 on the list: your own
The whole country knows the 17 songs above. A song featuring Nan Margaret, the tree that was far too big and the holiday with the broken-down car is one only your family knows. That is exactly what makes it the moment on Christmas Day that people still talk about in January. You need neither a guitar nor a talent for rhyming. A few keywords are enough, and a few minutes later the song is ready. Make your own Christmas song here.
For more numbers about the festive season, from trees to travel, see our overview of Christmas statistics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular Christmas song in the UK?
It depends on what you measure. On streams, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" leads with 475 million plays, just ahead of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" with 457 million (Official Charts Company, December 2024). Ask people directly and "Fairytale of New York" wins: 19 per cent named it their favourite in a YouGov survey.
What was the Christmas Number 1 in 2025?
Kylie Minogue's "XMAS". It ended Wham!'s two-year run, after "Last Christmas" had been Christmas Number 1 in both 2023 and 2024.
What is Britain's favourite Christmas carol?
In the YouGov Big Survey on Christmas 2025, "Silent Night" won clearly with 28 per cent, ahead of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". Classic FM's listener vote in 2025 was won by "O Holy Night".
Can I get a personalised Christmas song made?
Yes. You answer a few questions about the people the song is for and get a sung Christmas song with their names and your own memories. You see the lyrics straight away, and the sung version is ready a few minutes later.
Harriet Ashdown looks after our blog. She has loved the countdown to Christmas since she was a child, starts on the mince pies far too early every year and writes here about everything to do with advent calendars.
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Harriet Ashdown
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Published