Christmas Tunes Dominate Record-Setting U.K. Singles Chart

It’s a very merry Christmas for Ed Sheeran and Elton John as their holiday-themed collaboration snags a second week atop of the U.K. chart.

“Merry Christmas” (Atlantic) leads a new frame that features 24 Christmas songs in the Top 40. According to the Official Charts Company, that’s a new all-time chart record for the most Christmas-themed songs in the chart a week prior to the Dec. 25 holiday.

The Top 10 on this week’s Official U.K. Singles Chart is home to Christmas hits by Wham! (at No. 3), Mariah Carey (No. 4), Shakin’ Stevens (No. 6) and The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl (No. 7), all of which hold their positions from last week, while Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (MCA) lifts 10-8.

Indeed, just one song in the Top 10 this week doesn’t have Santa at it’s heart — Sam Fender’s “Seventeen Going Under” (Polydor), lifting 15-9.

Attention now turns to the Christmas chart race, and one of the favorites to clinch the title, LadBaby’s “Sausage Rolls For Everyone,” also featuring Ed and Elton.

If LadBaby wins, it would be give the fundraising novelty act their fourth consecutive Christmas chart-topper, and set a long-standing chart record.