Kylie Minogue crowned Christmas number one with XMAS, first female artist to reach four decades at the top

Kylie Minogue has claimed this year's Christmas number one in the United Kingdom with the song XMAS, dethroning Wham!'s Last Christmas, which topped the chart in 2023 and again in 2024. Arriving 37 years after her first UK No. 1 hit, I Should Be So Lucky (1988), Minogue becomes the first female artist to top the Christmas chart in four decades. XMAS is part of a new expanded edition of her 2015 album Kylie Christmas and was released exclusively through Amazon.

Music industry observers credited a targeted release strategy that leaned heavily on Amazon Music's Christmas playlist and a slate of limited-edition physical formats. The track was not widely available on rival streaming platforms, with Amazon’s exclusivity cited as a potential edge in a year when digital and physical sales still mattered. The Official Charts Company noted that the race remained competitive throughout the week, with streaming, downloads and physical copies all contributing to the final tally. "It's hard to put into words how special this feels," Minogue said, adding that she would be celebrating Christmas by "obsessing over a jigsaw" with her family in Australia. "Kylie really, really targeted this particular race. Her record label pulled out all the stops," said Martin Talbot, head of the Official Charts Company. "When you have a superstar of her status really going for it, she's always going to be in with a chance."

The weeklong contest was described by Talbot as "tight right the way through the week" as fans alternated among a mix of newer tracks, evergreen classics and charity singles. At one point, only about 10,000 copies separated the top five songs. In addition to XMAS, other contenders included beloved Christmas staples from Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee, underscoring how listeners continued to lean on festive favorites even as new music entered the chart.

Minogue’s path to Christmas glory this year was not her first close call with the seasonal crown. In 1988, her duet with Jason Donovan, Especially for You, was a major contender but finished as a runner-up behind Cliff Richard's Mistletoe and Wine. The Australian pop icon indicated after this year’s win that she planned a quiet Christmas, despite the demanding schedule of her 66-date Tension World Tour. She described Boxing Day as a time to watch the Australia vs. England Test match while chipping away at a newly acquired 1,000-piece puzzle from a charity shop—a ritual she joked about revisiting with family as the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

Wham!’s Last Christmas, meanwhile, has endured a remarkable afterlife. The track has charted every year since 2007 and was last year’s top song with record streaming figures totaling 12.6 million in Christmas week alone. Although it did not prevail in the UK this cycle, it did top Billboard’s Global 200 for the first time, highlighting the song’s enduring global appeal. BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, who presents the UK chart show, attributed the track’s lasting resonance to its message of togetherness during the holidays. "It's a fantastic pop song, but it also captures the true heart and soul of what Christmas means to people. It's family coming together, it's reigniting friendships, it's community. When you hear Wham! on the radio, you think, oh yeah we are all in this together, this is our song."

Two tracks that drew attention this year for reasons beyond the standard Christmas canon included Together For Palestine’s Lullaby, a charity single raising funds for aid in Gaza. The project, built around the traditional Palestinian folk song Yamma Mwel El Hawa (Mama, Sing to the Wind) with new lyrics from Peter Gabriel, featured a chorus of artists including Neneh Cherry, Celeste and Dan from Bastille. Nai Barghouti, who appears on the track, said the song’s global support showed the season’s potential for unity and fundraising, even as voters weighed the commercial stakes of the chart race.

In the end, the crown belongs to Minogue, whose expanded Kylie Christmas edition not only carried XMAS onto the top of the chart but also revived interest in a holiday-era project more than half a decade after its original release. The win adds a new chapter to her storied career, reinforcing her status as a perennial presence in the pop landscape. The pop star signaled that, while JOINT celebrations were on her mind, she also looked forward to continuing to create and perform, with tours and new releases to come in the new year.