Last Christmas

"**Last Christmas**" is a single by the English pop duo Wham!. The song was written by its member George Michael and was released on 3 December 1984 by CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side by Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in many countries in Europe. It was released as the lead single from Wham!'s third and final studio album *Music from the Edge of Heaven*, it also features on their greatest hits album *The Final* (1986). Andrew Ridgeley, the other half of Wham!, did not have any involvement in the recording or writing of the song. Michael sang, produced, and performed all of the parts on the record. The song has reached number one in several countries including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and also Top 5 in Australia, Belgium, France, Norway and the United States.

## Composition
The song describes a breakup during Christmastime. The engineer, Chris Porter, said that the upbeat rhythm track contrasted against the sadness of unrequited love. The same chord progression and melody is used for both the verse and chorus, with no middle eight.

## Production
 (left) wrote and performed "Last Christmas" without Andrew Ridgeley (right)]]
Wham! member George Michael wrote the song in February 1984 when he was in his childhood bedroom, he and the other member, Andrew Ridgeley, were visiting his parents at the time. The duo went on to record the song in August 1984 at Advision Studios in London.

## Media
In December 2024, an hour long TV documentary titled ***Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped***, was aired on BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the song. The documentary features Ridgeley,  and other close friends from the music video and shows them visiting the location where the video was filmed as well as talking about the creation of the song. In the 2019 film '''', the song prominently features along with other George Michael songs.

## Plagiarism allegations
In the mid 1980s, the publishing company Dick James Music sued Michael for plagiarism on behalf of the writers of "" originally performed by David Martin and made popular by Barry Manilow, it was claimed that the song had taken its melody, but the case was dismissed.

* George Michael – lead vocals, producer, composer, lyricist, arranger (Pudding Mix)
* Wham! – associated performer
* Chris Porter – engineer, mixing engineer

## Chart performance
### United Kingdom
In 1984, the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart missing out of the Christmas number one by "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid, on which Michael also performed. The duo donated their royalties to the Ethiopian famine relief fund, the same cause as Band Aid. The record was beaten in June 2022 by Kate Bush with "Running Up That Hill", which took 37 years. In December 2023, the song went on to become Christmas number one for the first time. It also became the third-best selling UK single, with 5.34 million chart units, including 1.93m sales and nearly 413 million streams. In December 2024, it became the first song arcieve Christmas number one for two years in a row, the song secured number one with over 12 million streams and being the best selling song physically, thanks to the limited edition 40th anniversary collectibles, including zoetrope vinyl, picture disc and CD.

### Other territories
In Germany, "Last Christmas" is the most successful Christmas single of all time, it peaked at number one in December 2021. In Ireland, the song reached number one on 30 December 2022 and returned number one again in 2024. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 2 in December 2025,  In Switzerland, where the music video was filmed, the song reached number one for the first time in December 2025.

## Charts
### Weekly charts
## Certifications
## Release history
## References