As of November 10, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” has climbed to 37th place in the UK Singles Chart – the benchmark music chart in the UK. Meanwhile, Mariah Carey’s cult hit “All I Want for Christmas is You” stands at number 40.

The Official Charts Company, which compiles the UK Singles Chart, claims that this is the first time that Christmas songs have made such an early appearance in the country’s official musical rankings.

Last year, Mariah Carey’s hit entered the UK Singles Chart in the third week of November, which was already a record at the time.

And this phenomenon extends beyond the UK. Indeed, Spotify’s top 50 most popular songs in the US currently feature three Christmas songs.

Unsurprisingly, “All I Want for Christmas is You” is listed at number 30. In addition, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” has climbed to 36th place, and Bing Crosby’s 1947 version of “White Christmas” to 48th.

‘It’s time’

It’s safe to assume that the music charts will change dramatically in the coming weeks, as the holiday season approaches. Successful singers such as Cher and Brandy are celebrating the Christmas spirit with some anticipation this year, releasing new albums channelling the festive spirit.

If the advent of streaming has enabled Christmas songs to appear in the music charts long before December, Mariah Carey also has a role to play. The American star officially kicks off the festive season the day after Halloween, by posting humorous videos on social networks.

This year, Mariah Carey posted a video of herself frozen in a block of ice, surrounded by three people in Halloween costumes trying to set her free. She manages to extricate herself by singing “It’s time” in a very high-pitched voice, shattering the ice and finding herself propelled into a magical Christmas world, with her song “All I Want for Christmas is You” playing in the background. This short and knowingly kitsch video has been viewed almost 122 million times on X.