Illusion’s Last Christmas is the number one Christmas for the second year in a row.

Illusion’s Last Christmas has become the UK’s Christmas number one for the second year in a row.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s festive classic beats have topped the charts with Mariah Carey, Gracie Abrams, Tom Grenin and Ariana Grande.

Ridgeley said he was “particularly happy” for his late bandmate, who died in 2016, and had always wanted the song to reach number one.

“He would have been absolutely delighted. [that] His exquisite Christmas compositions have become such classics, almost as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, turkeys and pigs in blankets.”

“It’s a testament to a truly wonderful Christmas song that represents Christmas in so many people’s minds and represents Christmas as we all want it to be,” he added.

The song was streamed 12.6 million times in the week leading up to Christmas, the Official Charts Company said.

The only other songs to top the Christmas chart on two occasions are Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Band Aid’s Do The Know It Christmas. Neither managed it in consecutive years.

Last Christmas was originally released in 1984, but lost the top spot to Band Aid’s single, which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

The charity made a new bid for the charts this year, with the “ultimate mix” of the 40th anniversary of Do The Know This Christmas, combining vocals from various versions of the song that have been recorded over the years.

But the re-release failed after a row over the lyrics, with critics calling the song outdated and colonial, and Ed Sheeran saying He was not asked for permission to reuse his voice.

Finally, the song charted at number 12 between Kelly Clarkson’s Under Beneath the Tree and Andy Williams’ 1963 standard This Year’s Most Wonderful Time.

The Last Christmas George Michael wrote in his childhood bedroom in February 1984, “And it was a number as far as I was concerned”, he told Smash Hits in 1986.

Inspiration came out of the blue, when the singer was hanging out at his parents’ house in Hertfordshire.

“There was a footy match on the telly and he suddenly jumped up and disappeared upstairs where he had a little four-track studio,” Ridgeley told BBC News.

“About an hour later, he came back and said, ‘Andy Andy, you’ve got to hear this’. I’ve rarely seen him so excited or so animated.

“And as soon as I heard it, it was so clear that it had all the hallmarks of a Christmas classic. It was a jaw-dropping moment.”

Last Christmas has reappeared in the Top 40 every year since 2007, thanks to the arrival of downloads and then streaming – each of which allowed the classic songs to contribute to the chart data.

Nostalgia has been the driving force behind the Christmas charts ever since, as perennial favorites like Fairy Tale of New York and Jungle Bell Rock shine a light on the holiday.

Jack Saunders, who presents the Radio 1 chart show, said the new songs were difficult to compete with.

He said that songs take time to warm up and become classics.

“I think it would be a huge accomplishment to come up with something and be number one when asked.”

Consequently, 29 of that year’s Top 40 songs were Christmas-themed, with only two newcomers to the standards: Tom Grenin’s It Can’t Be Christmas and Luffy’s Christmas Magic.

Both were commissioned by Amazon Music, which automatically asked everyone to play Christmas music from their smart speakers.

It gave both artists a head start in the sales race, with Grenin’s song eventually peaking at number four.

The Coventry singer campaigned hard for the position, even going so far as to read the tattoo “Christmas is number 1.On his right thigh, which he said he would complete whichever song he won.

Another song aiming for number one was Freezing This Christmas, a parody of Mid’s Lonely This Christmas which criticizes the government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.

Although it was the most downloaded track of the week, protest songs have struggled on streaming – which now accounts for 87.7% of all music consumption in the UK.

In the end, the track only entered the Top 40, peaking at number 37.

American pop star Sabrina Carpenter topped the album chart with Short ‘N’ Sweet, a record that produced three number one singles during the year.

Michael Buble’s Christmas album took second place, with Chapel Rowan’s Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess at number three.