UPDATE 12/24/2023:
Sam Ryder makes 2nd place look GOOD!
Yesterday, in a video posted to social media, the UK Eurovision favorite announced that “You’re Christmas to Me”, his surprise hit single released exclusively on Amazon music, had ultimately finished in 2nd place on the UK’s Christmas Singles Chart. He finished one spot below Whams!’s 1984 smash hit single “Last Christmas” and one spot above Mariah Carey’s perennial 1994 sensation “All I Want for Christmas is You”.
Reacting to this news, Sam said:
“It feels great to be the filling in a Wham! and Mariah [Carey] sandwich.”
Wham! “Last Christmas” spent four weeks at the #2 spot on the UK singles’ charts in its first year of release, losing out on the #1 glory to the supergroup Band Aid’s charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas”. Nearly 40 year later, the song has finally landed the top spot for the very first time.
Wham! was a chart-topping English pop duo of the 1980s. The duo’s front man, George Michael, would go on to have a long and successful solo career before passing away of heart disease in 2016.
Sam thanked fans for their support and encouragement in the video posted to his social media channels and heaped praise on surviving Wham! bandmember Andrew Ridgeley. He also promised that the battle may not be over.
“Next week we’ll be back,” he said. “We’ll be giving it everything again … We’ve always had this magical relationship with the number 2, right? Imagine, if we get #1 next week, then it will mean we came 2nd at getting the Christmas #1.”
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ORIGINAL 12/15/2023:
There’s nothing but space at the top of the charts, man!
Sam Ryder‘s new Christmas single, “You’re Christmas to Me”, was released exclusively on Amazon music last month. And though the song is unavailable on music streaming platforms like Apple and Spotify, the singer’s devoted fanbase have driven the song to the Top 10 of the UK’s Singles Charts. It currently sits in 10th place, below Christmas classics like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”, “Last Christmas” by Wham!, and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”.
The success of “You’re Christmas to Me” is especially notable considering it is Sam Ryder’s first release as an independent artist. Though his debut major label album There’s Nothing but Space, Man! debuted at #1 on The UK’s album charts in late-2022, Sam amicably split from his label earlier this year. In an interview with the BBC, he described the change of direction in his career as, “the most freeing experience”. He is currently in the process of writing his second album.
In an interview with Official Charts, Sam described his reaction to the surprise success of “You’re Christmas to Me”:
I can’t find the words for it, I’m just buzzing that people even seem to be hearing it.
The concept of the ‘Christmas #1’ is a long standing tradition in The UK. Though the spot has, in the past, gone to songs by The Beatles, Whitney Houston, and Queen, it has often been dominated by charity singles, novelty songs, and the debut singles of X Factor winners. Most recently, YouTuber LadBaby has had a stranglehold on the position, topping the Christmas charts with parodies of popular hits, with proceeds from sales of the singles going to a UK-based food bank initiative.
“You’re Christmas to Me” is currently exclusively available via Amazon Music. You can find it here. The single’s official music video was released today and can be viewed below:
Sam Ryder finished in 2nd place at Eurovision 2022, garnering The UK its best Eurovision result in more than 20 years. His next career milestone may come in January at the Emmy Awards. “Found and Lost”, the song he wrote for an episode of the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, is nominated for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
Are #YOU rooting for Sam to nab that #1 spot? Are #YOU still wondering about the secret to Sam Ryder’s healthy hair? Just me? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our Discord, or on our forum page!
