The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale Of New York’ Re-Enters The UK Top 40 Singles Chart
Following the sad news of The Pogues singer Shane MacGowan’s death, the band’s legendary Christmas song, Fairytale of New York, featuring Kirsty MacColl has re-entered the UK Top 40 at Number 18, and is likely to set to rise even further next week, potentially even setting the stage for its first-ever stint at Number 1 in the UK.
In an official statement, Martin Talbot, Chief Executive Officer from Official Charts said: “The terribly sad news about Shane MacGowan’s death will hit hard all lovers of his music, as well as the fans of Fairytale Of New York, which is consistently one of the UK public’s favourite Christmas songs – and which has become a festive staple since the advent of the digital era made it available to download and stream.
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He added, “As usual, it was already heading back into the Official Singles Chart Top 40 this week and, while it is currently too early to give an indication of the scale of the streaming surge, we would very much expect Fairytale Of New York to rise further over the coming days. It is a genuine contender for this year’s Christmas Number 1 – a chart position which this classic has never previously reached. What a fitting tribute to Shane that would be.”
Meanwhile, Jack Harlow’s Lovin On Me has seduced the UK for a third consecutive week at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart. The “start of a new era” for the Louisville rapper, Lovin On Me even manages to out-perform itself week-on-week, securing its biggest seven-day numbers yet with a total of 55,000 UK chart units.
This week, Christmas has officially come to the Official Chart. As it stands, nearly half of the Official Singles Chart is comprised of Christmas songs, with a total of 16 festive tracks dominating the Top 40 this week.
These are lead, of course, by the two most enduring and popular yuletide hits (and former Number 1s), with Wham!’s Last Christmas, up nine to Number 5, and Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, jumping 10 to Number 6. Both songs could be considered lead contenders for this year’s Official Christmas Number 1, given their likelihood to rise as the month rolls on.
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