Released on 3 December 1984, "Last Christmas" the beloved and timeless Christmas anthem by English pop duo Wham! is celebrating its 40 years still in good shape. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in several European countries. Since then, the song has been covered by many artists since its original release, including artists such as Whigfiled, Crazy Frog, Meghan Trainor, Whigfield, Manic Street Preachers and Good Charlotte.
Back in 1984, "Last Christmas" spent five consecutive weeks at number two in the UK singles chart—it was held off the top spot at Christmas by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (on which Michael also performed). After many chart runs in subsequent years, which included three more weeks at number two, and which saw the recording become part of RCA Records' catalogue, the song finally reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on New Year's Day 2021 (chart week ending date 7 January 2021), more than 36 years after its initial release.
It became the fifth UK number one single for the duo. Prior to it reaching number one, "Last Christmas" had for many years held the record as the highest-selling single never to top the charts by the Official Charts Company with 1.9 million copies sold (not including streams)."Last Christmas" finally achieved the accolade of Christmas number one in 2023, 39 years after its initial release combining sales and streams, it also became the third biggest song of all time in the UK.
Outside the United Kingdom, the song topped the charts in fourteen countries and peaked within the top ten of the charts in several countries including Australia, Canada and the United States. It also reached number two on the Billboard Global 200 in January 2021.
In a UK-wide poll in December 2012, it was voted eight on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song, and was voted most popular song of the 1980s in Channel 5's Christmas 2020 countdown Britain's Favourite 80's Songs. It was the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century in the UK until it was overtaken by "Fairytale of New York" in 2011.
The origins of the song is dated-back in 1983, while George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were visiting Michael's parents. It was written by Michael in his childhood bedroom. Michael played Ridgeley the introduction and chorus melody to "Last Christmas", which Ridgeley later called "a moment of wonder".
The song was recorded in August 1984, at Advision Studios, London, England. George Michael wrote, performed, produced and played every single instrument on the track. With a LinnDrum drum machine, a Roland Juno-60 synth and sleigh bells, they began recording the song in the summer, Michael having plastered the studio in Christmas decorations to set the mood". The only other people in the studio were engineer Chris Porter and two assistants, Paul Gommersal and Richard Moakes. According to Porter, lyrically "you've got the happiness of the rhythm track, but against that you've got the sadness of the unrequited love".
Wham! already had two number one singles on the UK singles chart during 1984, and news that they were planning a Christmas single meant that a battle for the coveted Christmas number one spot in Britain seemed set to be between Wham! and the year's other big act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who had achieved a third No. 1 in early December with "The Power of Love". The Band Aid single written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, produced the No. 1 single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", while Wham!'s offering peaked at No. 2 for much of the period. Wham! donated all "Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants" royalties, to the Ethiopian famine relief fund.
About the music video, it received massive airplay back in 1985, originally directed by British commercial, film and music video director Andrew Morahan, shows Wham! members Michael and Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at an unspecified ski resort cottage; the cable-car that is visible in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where the video was filmed on 21 November 1984. It becomes clear early on that the character of Ridgeley's girlfriend (played by model Kathy Hill) was previously in a relationship with Michael and that the song is aimed at her. She can be spotted throughout the video by the fact that she is usually wearing red, but everyone else is wearing more muted colours. There is a brief flashback to a prior Christmas, showing Michael's character presenting Kathy Hill's character with a jewelled brooch. In the present time, Ridgeley is wearing the brooch, suggesting that Hill gave the same gift (perhaps by regifting it) to her new love after she and Michael parted ways. As Michael is decorating the Christmas tree some decoration falls to the floor where Michael's ex-girlfriend is sitting and the ex-couple shares a few seconds of a knowing look at each other.
At the end of the video, everyone leaves the cottage and when the group get out of the cable-car, they are all properly "paired off" with Michael and his new girlfriend played by actress Debbie Killingback, looking happy. The video also featured the duo's backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie.
