The New Song That Could Beat Wham! To The UK Christmas #1

English singer Tom Grennan is currently #2 on the UK mid-week charts with his festive tune, It Can’t Be Christmas. The question is: will he be able to beat Wham! and have a Christmas #1 in his home country?

Perhaps getting a bit too hopeful about his chances, Tom Grennan recently got a tattoo on his leg that reads, “Christmas no. 1 2024 is…,” promising his fans that he’ll add the winner’s name following the big announcement. After getting the tattoo, he cheekily told his fans, “You lot – do not let this flop.”

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In the UK, the Christmas #1 is a big deal. Singles that top the UK Singles Chart on the week in which Christmas Day falls, artists have released novelty songs, charity songs, and songs with a Christmas theme in an attempt to get to #1.

Christmas #1 is a prestigious achievement, and the songs that make it to the top are often the best-selling songs of the year. BBC Radio 1 announces the list on the Friday before Christmas (20 December this year), so listeners will just have to wait and see who tops the list. The most recent Christmas #1 is Last Christmas by Wham!, which finally went to #1 in the UK last year, 39 years after its original release.

Tom Grennan’s It Can’t Be Christmas was commissioned by Amazon and can be streamed exclusively on the platform. According to chart analysts who provided information to The Guardian, Grennan is in with a shot at the Christmas #1 as his song, and other Amazon Originals, are pushed to play on Alexa devices (and especially on festive playlists).

In the last five years, three songs have had attachments to Amazon and made it to the top ten on the Friday before Christmas. Last year, You’re Christmas To Me by Sam Ryder finished at #2, while in 2021, George Ezra’s Come On Home For Christmas made it to the top ten, and Jess Glynne’s This Christmas got to #4 in 2020.

Tom Grennan returned to Australia in May and played two shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Last year, he released the album What Ifs & Maybes.