Most-streamed 21st century Christmas song revealed
Leona Lewis’s festive anthem, ‘One More Sleep’, has officially been crowned the most streamed British Christmas song of the 21st century.
Released in 2013, the track, which peaked at number three on the UK singles chart, has now amassed over 190 million streams across the UK, according to the Official Charts Company, surpassing numerous modern festive favourites.
Coldplay’s ‘Christmas Lights’ secured second place in the round-up.
That was followed by Lily Allen’s cover of Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’, famously featured in a 2013 John Lewis Christmas advertisement.
Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John’s ‘Merry Christmas’ claimed fourth, with Alexandra Burke’s ‘Hallelujah’ completing the top five.
However, Burke’s song – which was her 2008 X Factor winning single – holds the distinction of being the biggest 21st-century Christmas song overall when both streaming figures and physical sales are combined.
Leona Lewis performing in 2021 (PA Archive)
Martin Talbot, chief executive of Official Charts, said: “The canon of Christmas classics is full to bursting with songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
“So it is great to see modern classics joining the festive hall of fame – with Leona Lewis’s ‘One More Sleep’ the runaway leader as the biggest new British Christmas cracker of them all. Congratulations Leona.”
The rest of the top 10 was made up of The Darkness’s ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’ (six), Sam Smith’s version of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ (seven), Jess Glynne’s ‘This Christmas’ (eight), George ‘Ezra’s Come On Home For Christmas’ (nine), and Sam Ryder’s ‘You’re Christmas To Me’ (10).
It comes after the Official Charts Company revealed this year’s contenders for the UK Christmas number one single last week, with contenders including US pop star Taylor Swift, Loose Women panellist Denise Welch and Tom Fletcher’s One Of Us, which was written for Paddington The Musical.
Lewis herself took Christmas number one in 2006 with her X Factor winners single ‘A Moment Like This’.