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Wham!'s inescapable festive hit Last Christmas has been named the UK’s Christmas No 1 for the first time since it was released 39 years ago, The National reported.

The song, written and performed by the late George Michael, has topped charts before, but never on Christmas Day. First released in December 1984, it was famously beaten to the top spot by Band Aid's charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?.

"An award that’s been 39 years in the making. Merry Christmas to Wham! and every fan that’s helped make Last Christmas the UK’s Christmas Number 1 2023," the Official Charts Company posted on social media.

With the feat, the song has now made history as the longest-ever journey to make it to the top spot on Christmas Day.

"Last Christmas has finally ascended to the much-cherished and sought-after Official Christmas number one, which was always the main goal," said instrumentalist Andrew Ridgeley, who co-founded Wham! with Michael.

"George would be beside himself that after all of these years we've finally obtained Christmas number one. Yog [Michael] said that he wrote Last Christmas with the intention of writing a Christmas number one. It's mission accomplished."

Official Charts Company said Last Christmas is now the UK's third biggest song of all time, with a combined lifetime total of 5.34 million chart units. It was streamed 13.3 million times this week, and was helped to the top spot by special vinyl and CD editions.

Singer Sam Ryder, who placed second at the 2022 Eurovision competition, landed the second spot on the Christmas singles chart with his new song You're Christmas To Me. Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You is at number three.