LISTEN: 40 years after its release, Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ is simultaneously loved & avoided around the world
By Johnny Lopez · 13 comments· Updated on January 2, 2024
Released on December 3, 1984, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” has been an enduring holiday classic for nearly 40 years.
George Michael wrote the song in his childhood bedroom in 1983 and recorded, produced and played every instrument on the track the following August.
“The first time I ever heard it, it was absolutely knockout,” Michael’s Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley told People in November. “It sounded for all the world like a Christmas classic. It’s Christmas distilled if you ask me. It’s the essence of Christmas.”
Interestingly, the song has little to do with the holiday as it mostly deals with picking up the pieces from the heartache of an ill-fated relationship. Christmas is merely the mark of the romance’s demise.
“Last Christmas I gave you my heart/ But the very next day you gave it away,” the lyrics begin. “This year, to save me from tears/ I’ll give it to someone special.”
The accompanying music video is a fabulous visual time capsule of ’80s hair physics and gives more context to the aforementioned breakup as Michael laments his doomed romance when his ex-girlfriend turns up on Ridgeley’s arm during a group ski trip to the Swiss Alps.
To make matters worse, she has apparently re-gifted the brooch Michael gave her “last Christmas” to Ridgeley. Gurl!
We’d be upset too if we weren’t howling at all the ginormous frosted, permed and lacquered manes frolicking in the snow!
Fun fact: The video is considered to be the last time Michael was seen clean shaven on film. His trademark scruff would debut in the “Everything She Wants” video and remain in some form throughout his career.
Upon the its release, “Last Christmas” made it to #2 on the UK chart and missed out at the top spot by another holiday classic that Michael recorded, Band Aid’s charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas.”
“Last Christmas” would later be included on Wham!’s 1986 final album Music From the Edge of Heaven.
In the United States, the song had a less conventional journey up the charts.
Despite getting tons of radio play, “Last Christmas” was not originally released as a commercial single in the US until 2014 and didn’t initially chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It now trends every holiday season and currently sits in the top 5 on the Hot 100 chart.
Over the years, ‘Last Christmas’ has been covered by a slew of artists, including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen, Ashley Tisdale, Penatonix, Hilary Duff, Backstreet Boys, and on Glee.
It also inspired the 2019 Emilia Clarke rom-com Last Christmas, which features the titular song and other hits by Michael and Wham!
Despite the song’s widespread popularity, there are those that do their best to avoid hearing it every year in what’s become known as “Whamageddon.”
The viral game began nearly 20 years ago in Denmark and has seen its popularity grow as it continues to trend around the world on social media. The Whamageddon hashtag currently has more than 12 million views on TikTok alone.
The challenge entails avoiding hearing Wham!’s “Last Christmas” between December 1st and 11:59pm on December 24th. The second you hear a bar of the song you are considered out and will have to wait another year to play again.
Fans are encouraged to share a photo or video documenting the moment of audible disqualification by including the #Whamageddon hashtag on social media.
However, you are free to listen to Cascada’s 2007 rendition – or any other cover for that matter – as only the OG Wham! version will lead to your downfall.
While millions may be trying to abstain from hearing the sweet sound of Michael’s voice this holiday season, others simply can’t get enough as “Last Christmas” is within earshot of dethroning Mariah Carey’s “All I Want Is Christmas” and Brenda Lee’s “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” from the top of the charts.
Furthering the song’s sentimental legacy is the added poignancy in the aftermath of Michael’s untimely death at the age of 53 on December 25th, 2016.
Never mind Whamageddon and go listen to “Last Christmas” now!
Check out George Michael performing “Last Christmas” during his 25 Live tour at Wembley Arena in 2006.
In honor of Father’s Day, revisit George Michael’s 1987 daddy opus “Father Figure.”
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You are so inquisitve, deebee. I watched the video. A first! Live stock fences are big in Switzerland is the only thing that comes to mind. They all had to pee and the gates were too far away?
RIP George looking like our beloved Princes Di.
wiki goes deep into the weeds here. Happy Holidays DB!
Music video
The video to “Last Christmas” directed by Andrew Morahan, shows Wham! members Michael and Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at an unspecified ski resort cottage: the cable-car that is visible in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where the video was filmed.[3] It becomes clear early on that the character of Ridgeley’s girlfriend (played by model Kathy Hill)[3] was previously in a relationship with Michael and that the song is aimed at her. She can be spotted throughout the video by the fact that she is usually wearing red, but everyone else is wearing more muted colours.
There is a brief flashback to a prior Christmas, showing Michael’s character presenting Kathy Hill’s character with a jewelled brooch. In the present time, Ridgeley is wearing the brooch, suggesting that Hill gave the same gift (perhaps by regifting it) to her new love after she and Michael parted ways. When Hill wears the brooch after receiving it from Michael’s character, it is “right side up”, and when Ridgeley’s character wears it, he wears it “upside down”. On numerous occasions, Michael presents a thoughtful expression, suggesting his conflicting emotions. As Michael is decorating the Christmas tree some decoration falls to the floor where Michael’s ex-girlfriend is sitting and the ex-couple shares a few seconds of a knowing look at each other.
Her seeming indifference to Ridgeley’s open displays of affection makes the viewer wonder if Ridgeley’s heart is the next to be broken. At the end of the video, everyone leaves the cottage and when the group get out of the cable-car, they are all properly “paired off” with Michael and his new girlfriend looking happy.
The video also featured the duo’s erstwhile backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie.[3]
In Los Angeles, Christmas music begins on Nov 8 and plays through Jan 12 on radio stations and in the retail shops. You’d have to wear earplugs for 2 months straight to successfully participate in #Whamageddon.
God, how the time flies. I didn’t realize the song was almost 40 years old. It’s certainly an earworm and so much a Christmas staple that I don’t see how anyone could win Whamageddon, apart from moving into a cave for the holidays. But let’s face it, it’s not exactly a happy song, is it? Loved the movie though, even though the critics didn’t.
It seems unreal this song was released 39 years ago. Like film, recordings will live long past our mortal lives to the benefit of future generations to enjoy George Michael’s glorious, beautiful voice.
right? time is a funny thing. i was a child when it came out. i loved him then & i still do to this day. it broke my heart when he died & it still hurts. ruined my xmas that year. it will always be one of my fave xmas songs- f the haters.
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dbmcvey
Love the song, but why, in the video, do they climb over the fence to get to the house?
abfab
You are so inquisitve, deebee. I watched the video. A first! Live stock fences are big in Switzerland is the only thing that comes to mind. They all had to pee and the gates were too far away?
RIP George looking like our beloved Princes Di.
wiki goes deep into the weeds here. Happy Holidays DB!
Music video
The video to “Last Christmas” directed by Andrew Morahan, shows Wham! members Michael and Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at an unspecified ski resort cottage: the cable-car that is visible in two shots is from Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where the video was filmed.[3] It becomes clear early on that the character of Ridgeley’s girlfriend (played by model Kathy Hill)[3] was previously in a relationship with Michael and that the song is aimed at her. She can be spotted throughout the video by the fact that she is usually wearing red, but everyone else is wearing more muted colours.
There is a brief flashback to a prior Christmas, showing Michael’s character presenting Kathy Hill’s character with a jewelled brooch. In the present time, Ridgeley is wearing the brooch, suggesting that Hill gave the same gift (perhaps by regifting it) to her new love after she and Michael parted ways. When Hill wears the brooch after receiving it from Michael’s character, it is “right side up”, and when Ridgeley’s character wears it, he wears it “upside down”. On numerous occasions, Michael presents a thoughtful expression, suggesting his conflicting emotions. As Michael is decorating the Christmas tree some decoration falls to the floor where Michael’s ex-girlfriend is sitting and the ex-couple shares a few seconds of a knowing look at each other.
Her seeming indifference to Ridgeley’s open displays of affection makes the viewer wonder if Ridgeley’s heart is the next to be broken. At the end of the video, everyone leaves the cottage and when the group get out of the cable-car, they are all properly “paired off” with Michael and his new girlfriend looking happy.
The video also featured the duo’s erstwhile backing singers Pepsi and Shirlie.[3]
MikeM
If I’m not mistaken, he donated the proceeds from the single to famine relief in Ethiopia ??. I wonder how much revenue that has generated?
bachy
In Los Angeles, Christmas music begins on Nov 8 and plays through Jan 12 on radio stations and in the retail shops. You’d have to wear earplugs for 2 months straight to successfully participate in #Whamageddon.
abfab
And go shopping with Coco Peru for Panatonne and Tension Tamer Tea and French Press Ons. The poor dear.
TimidTim
Really? I could have sworn KOST started as early as the week of Halloween.
theaterbloke
God, how the time flies. I didn’t realize the song was almost 40 years old. It’s certainly an earworm and so much a Christmas staple that I don’t see how anyone could win Whamageddon, apart from moving into a cave for the holidays. But let’s face it, it’s not exactly a happy song, is it? Loved the movie though, even though the critics didn’t.
abfab
Need a lift? Spin Monique Bingham.
Who needs the carols………..yawn
bachy
Going Up? 🙂
abfab
Look what you’ve done!
Diplomat
It seems almost defiantly hetero. Today would be an entirely different video. Love that boy.
Baron Wiseman
It seems unreal this song was released 39 years ago. Like film, recordings will live long past our mortal lives to the benefit of future generations to enjoy George Michael’s glorious, beautiful voice.
missvamp
right? time is a funny thing. i was a child when it came out. i loved him then & i still do to this day. it broke my heart when he died & it still hurts. ruined my xmas that year. it will always be one of my fave xmas songs- f the haters.