Last Christmas
song written and composed by George MIchael, originally recorded by Wham! and released in 1984
"Last Christmas" is a song by the English duo Wham!, released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in multiple European countries. It was written and produced by the Wham! member George Michael. He wrote it in February 1984 about a Christmas breakup and recorded it that August.
"Last Christmas" spent five consecutive weeks at number two on the UK singles chart. It was beaten to Christmas number one by the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid, on which Michael also performed. Funds from the sale of "Do They Know It's Christmas" were donated to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia.
Until 2021, "Last Christmas" was the highest-selling UK single never to reach number one. It has entered the UK singles chart every year since 2007, reached number one for the first time on New Year's Day 2021, and became Christmas number one in 2023. Combining sales and streams, it also became the third-best selling UK single, with 5.34 million sales.
The public source identifies “Last Christmas” as song written and composed by George MIchael, originally recorded by Wham! and released in 1984. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Last, Christmas and song.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Last Christmas”, the useful work is to connect “song written and composed by George MIchael, originally recorded by Wham! and released in 1984” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1318118. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984, 1983, 1985 and 2021.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Last Christmas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.