Ever heard a song on the radio and thought “Not Again!”? Well, December is definitely the one month of the year where the same songs on the radio seem to be on repeat, and as much as you can love the red and green decorations and the air of celebration, it can get a little too much. Last November, Paddy Power Games conducted a research to find out the nation’s most hated Christmas songs, creating a list of ten songs which UK citizens have revealed are their least favourite festive tunes. Shockingly, most of these songs are also featured in the Official Chart‘s most streamed Christmas songs of the month, making the UK a nation of festive contradiction.
Starting off strong, 19.5% of Brits have revealed that the Christmas song they hate the most is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You“; but the Mariah Carey hate doesn’t stop there: not only is her Christmas hit the UK’s least favourite festive song, but most of the people interviewed (67%) couldn’t even name another song by Carey. However, the second is currently charting at number three in the UK, and has peaked multiple times at number one since its release thirty years ago; it is also, according to Official Charts, the most streamed Christmas song in the UK. Perhaps that 19.5% is the reason why Carey still has to get that Christmas number one.
At the second spot, 12% of interviewed Brits have said they can’t stand Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe“. The song was first released in 2011, as a lead singer of the Canadian-born artist’s first Christmas album. Currently, it is the UK’s nineteenth most streamed Christmas song, and has previously peaked at number 21 on UK charts in its release year.
At number three, a staple song in UK Christmas music: “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid, which took the Christmas Number One Crown in 1984 and held on to the position for five consecutive weeks in its release year. 11.9% Brits have stated that the song, which counts 110 weeks charting in the UK, is their least favourite. Despite this, even forty years after its release, the song is currently peaking at number twelve and is the seventh most streamed festive song this year.
The fourth spot for most hated Christmas songs, with 11.7% of Brits agreeing, is The Pogues’s “Fairytale Of New York“. The collaboration with Kirsty MacColl was released in 1987, and peaked at number two for two consecutive weeks. Currently, it is charting at number ten and is the third most streamed Christmas song. In 2023, the song was one of the main contenders for the Christmas Number One title due to The Pogues’s frontman Shane MacGowan passing; however, the song failed to achieve the position and only peaked at number four. Despite that 11.7%, a Christmas Number One is definitely in the future of the song.
Number five sees “I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard, which is said to be the least favourite of 10.9% Brits. It was released in 1973, produced and written by frontman Roy Wood; currently, the song is the tenth most streamed and charting at 28, with a previous peak at number ten in 2019.
The following positions include: Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)“, the seventeenth most streamed but disliked by 10.6%; “Christmas Time” by The Darkness is the least favourite of 10.5% Brits, “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives with 10.3% and, at number nine, Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad“.
The ten spot is taken by WHAM’s “Last Christmas“, with 10.1% disliking the song. Not only is WHAM!’s hit the second most streamed song according to UK charts, but this year it also won the Christmas Number One title for the second consecutive year. The song is truly the Christmas hit of multiple generations, despite more than one tenth of the population considers it the worst Christmas song.
