We listen to them each and every year but what to the likes of Wham!'s Last Christmas and that infernal Mariah Carey song actually make each year?
18:48, 25 Dec 2024Updated 18:55, 25 Dec 2024
Christmas songs are the gift that keeps on giving – if you get the ingredients right, they’re absolute cash cows or, erm, turkeys!
Everyone’s top tinsel-wrapped tunes don’t just bring seasonal joy, they boost the bank accounts of the stars who sing them.
Wham! ’s snow-cold classic Last Christmas, written by the late George Michael, was the UK’s Crimbo No1 yet again this year.
According to the number-crunchers, the chart-topper – the rights to which belong to Warner Chappell Music – rakes in annual royalties of £470,000.
Diva Mariah Carey might as well change the lyrics of her holiday smash to: All I Want for Christmas Is… More Money!
Thirty years on from the song’s original release, Mimi is believed to have lined her fur-trimmed pockets with a cool £55million.
Golden-oldie Merry Christmas Everybody, which first hit the airwaves in 1973, reportedly nets Slade ’s Noddy Holder a regular £1m paycheck.
The 78-year-old regularly jokes that the hit is his “pension plan”.
Fellow festive favourite I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – also released in 1973 – is said to earn Wizzard frontman Roy Wood £200k each year.
Rounding out the royalties list are The Pogues ’ Fairytale Of New York (£400k), Bing Crosby ’s White Christmas (£328k) and Paul McCartney ’s Wonderful Christmastime (£260k).
No wonder so many newer artists are trying to make a Christmas cracker – if they sleigh, we’ll pay.
Yes Wham! have scored a Christmas number one and number two with their festive classic Last Christmas - but can you remember if these hits were festive chart-toppers or near misses?
George Michael and Andrew Ridgely were favourites to top the Christmas charts for the second year running with their retro monster hit. They faced fierce competition from the Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey.
Take our Christmas charts quiz to see if you tell which of these hits from yesteryear were top of the festive pops and which ones just missed out on the coveted Christmas number one.
Let us know if you can get top marks in the comments section below.
English (US) ·