28th December 2025

It's a post-Christmas clear-out and an opportunity to cut my chart down to 75, hooray! The late Chris Rea gets his second number one with a track and single from his Road To Hell album, the achingly sad Tell Me There's A Heaven, in all its 6 minutes of tear-jerking gorgeousness. Driving Home For Christmas took 29 years to top my charts on its 11th chart run from first charting in 1988. Tell Me There's A Heaven hit 10 in 1990, and 4 in 1994 as a double A side with the Christmas classic, and so it finally tops my chart 35 years late.

Jimmy Cliff, meanwhile finally goes top 5 56 years-late with Wonderful World Beautiful People, with other tracks also hitting debut peaks for the first time lower down. Most of them charted highly for other acts, though, except Wild World which went top 5 in 1970 for the late, great Jimmy - so only 55 years waiting for another. The Lottery Winners grab a 3rd top 10 inside a year with Your Last Song, one of them a number one, and Kylie hs 2 Christmas big movers that shoot up to 20 and 21 despite Christmas being over, ditto Cher, Jonas Brothers and Gwen Stefani, new christmas songs that haven't outstayed their welcome as the oldies exit rapidly.

There's just 3 new tracks this week, Alok joining with debutant Zeeba and a returning Portugal. The Man at 58 on the dance goodie Dive Into The Ocean. Alok has been ever-present the last 2 or 3 years, but Portugal. The Man have been absent 7 years as they claim their 5th chart entry in 12 years, all of them top 20, 3 of them top 10. Taylor Swift debuts the fourth track off her Showgirl album, the 4th, Opalite at 68, as she ticks off her 40th chart entry or so in 16 years. That's pretty good. Finally, Mika is back again, his 23rd showing in 18 years, and first in 3 years, with Immortal Love at 75.

1 2 1 2 TELL ME THERE’S A HEAVEN - Chris Rea 285000

2 1 1 4 SHAKE IT DOWN - Mud 475000

3 4 1 12 LOTUS - Rose Gray 922350

4 9 4 5 WONDERFUL WORLD BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE - Jimmy Cliff 195200

5 6 3 7 ATCHAFALAYA - Orville Peck featuring Noah Cyrus 340100

6 5 4 12 TIME WILL TELL - Celeste 407350

7 7 5 14 UNCONDITIONAL - JADE 562900

8 12 8 7 YOUR LAST SONG - The Lottery Winners 174900

9 3 3 5 I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS - Greg Lake 203850

10 11 8 11 SAVE MY LOVE (NICKY ROMERO REMIX) - Marshmello, Ellie

Golding & AVAION 303550

11 8 3 10 BERGHAIN - ROSALIA Featuring Bjork & Yves Tumor 456700

12 19 12 8 BANDAIDS - Katy Perry 154000

13 14 12 10 CHARIOT - Westlife 220650

14 10 1 10 SAY HELLO WAVE GOODBYE - Soft Cell 706250

15 22 15 6 MANY RIVERS TO CROSS - Jimmy Cliff 98400

16 13 1 10 IT’S A SIN (BRYCE MILLER MONSTER MIX) - Pet Shop Boys 655500

17 15 1 15 SECRETS - Miley Cyrus featuring Lindsey Buckingham and Mick

Fleetwood 1142700

18 18 13 13 HELLO - Sigala x Leigh-Anne x Jonita Gandhi 218450

19 24 19 14 FIX WHAT YOU DIDN’T BREAK - Nate Smith 174300

20 44 20 3 X.M.A.S. - Kylie Minogue 41000

21 34 21 3 HOT IN DECEMBER - Kylie Minogue 42350

22 16 3 17 BACK TO FRIENDS - sombr 626200

23 17 10 9 GHOST - Rob Thomas 193550

24 20 13 14 DRACULA - Tame Impala 254750

25 21 1 17 BRAND NEW ME - Saint Etienne featuring Confidence Man 1099250

26 32 26 6 YOU CAN GET IF YOU REALLY WANT - Jimmy Cliff 95150

27 27 27 10 IN THE END - Depeche Mode 149100

28 55 28 4 CLOUD - Seafret 45100

29 31 29 8 MY OLD WAYS - Tame Impala 110600

30 25 9 12 BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART - JADE 273900

31 33 31 5 BEAUTIFUL SPIRITUAL - Blue 77450

32 26 5 16 TALK TO ME - Damiano David featuring Tyla and Nile Rodgers 456000

33 30 1 15 DIE WITH A SMILE - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars 687700

34 41 34 4 HEAVY NEWS - Richard Ashcroft 40600

35 36 35 7 BOOM BODY - Shaggy, Akon & Aidonia 93550

36 38 36 7 RUN THIS TOWN - Olly Murs 84900

37 37 37 7 IN THE DARK - Selena Gomez 73050

38 23 10 14 WHY I CRY - MT Jones 279300

39 28 16 8 LIVING IN A BOX - Living In A Box 144250

40 29 1 17 DIVINE FEELINGS - Vance Joy 934500

41 51 41 6 THE HARDER THEY COME - Jimmy Cliff 55100

42 35 30 10 LITTLE SAD EYES - The Castells 144050

43 43 1 29 TOKYO RAIN - Loaded Honey 1712950

44 80 44 3 FREE LOVE - Cast 21250

45 50 45 9 FREE - Andrew Choi & EJAE KPop Demon Hunters 82550

46 42 18 13 THE FATE OF OPHELIA - Taylor Swift 194200

47 59 47 6 LET YOUR YEAH BE YEAH - Jimmy Cliff 50900

48 52 48 7 MYSTERIOUS GIRL - Damiano David 68300

49 47 8 15 LOVIN’ YOU - Richard Ashcroft featuring Mason Williams 337650

50 58 50 7 I’M DONE (GAMES THAT YOU PLAY) - Amy McDonald 61300

51 65 51 5 A LOVER’S CONCERTO - The Toys 35550

52 60 52 7 CHOOSIN’ TEXAS - Ella Langley 49100

53 56 1 29 GOD ONLY KNOWS - The Beach Boys 1135250

54 54 54 6 WILD WORLD - Jimmy Cliff 48800

55 63 55 5 ESIBIZIONISTA - Annalisa 34400

56 53 1 24 WALK OF FAME - Miley Cyrus featuring Brittany Howard 1234500

57 67 57 7 DREAM AS ONE - Miley Cyrus 44200

58 NEW 58 1 DIVE INTO THE OCEAN - Alok, Zeeba & Portugal. The Man 10200

59 83 59 3 CHURCH - JADE 16700

60 68 60 5 GENTLE REMINDER - MT Jones 32200

61 57 45 10 A PART OF YOU - Cerrone 86950

62 75 62 4 COMING HOME THIS CHRISTMAS - Jonas Brothers featuring Kenny G 22400

63 73 63 3 CHRISTMAS IS HERE - Cher 17400

64 77 64 3 THE CHANCE WON’T COME AGAIN - Andy Bell featuring Tim

Rice-Oxley 16100

65 79 65 3 MONSTERS - Strawberry Alarm Clock 15000

66 48 15 13 THEY - Sparks 225150

67 71 67 5 SEE EMILY PLAY - The Damned 25400

68 NEW 68 1 OPALITE - Taylor Swift 6400

69 72 69 6 BANKSY - The Rasmus 28200

70 78 70 3 RELIQUIA - ROSALIA 14600

71 61 60 10 LEMONADE - Louis Tomlinson 61700

72 88 72 2 SHAKE THE SNOW GLOBE - Gwen Stefani 8000

73 62 56 5 SHAKE UP CHRISTMAS - Train 35800

74 76 74 4 WILD WOMAN - Aerosmith, YUNGBLUD & Lainey Wilson 17800

75 NEW 75 1 IMMORTAL LOVE - Mika 5000

DROP OUTS

39 39 2 DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS - Chris Rea 23700

40 40 4 A FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK - The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl 47900

45 17 9 TORCH - Soft Cell 136950

46 28 7 TAKE ME I’M YOURS - Squeeze 95900

49 39 7 MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF MUSIC - Cass Elliot 82850

64 7 11 DUST IN THE WIND - Ian Storm, Ron van den Beuken & Menno 286050

66 25 13 UFO - Reverend And The Makers 167850

69 69 2 SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN - The Crystals 12400

70 58 6 660 - Bad Boy Chiller Crew featuring Dizzee Rascal & S Dog 51300

74 32 11 TO THE MOON - Alok & ILLENIUM 122100

81 81 2 CHIM CHIM CHE-REE - Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, Karen

Dotrice & Matthew Garber 7200

82 82 2 HUSHABYE MOUNTAIN - Dick Van Dyke 7200

84 40 14 BOTTLE ROCKETS (HOLD MY HAND) - Scotty McCreery featuring

Hootie & The Blowfish 132000

85 85 2 SNAKE BITE REVISITED - Mungo Jerry 6000

86 37 13 UNDRESSED - sombr 122750

87 87 1 A SPACEMAN CAME TRAVELLING - Chris De Burgh 2600

89 89 1 PARADISE - DJ Snake featuring Bipolar Sunshine 2200

90 90 1 WE’RE THE LUCKY ONES - Dubstar 2000

Hhi John!

Nice to see the new peaks for "Bandaids" , "Fix What You Didn't Break", "You Can Get If You Really Want", "Run This Town", "Mysterious Girl", "Choosin' Texas" and "Esibizionista", the big gains for "Dream As One" and "Church" and the debut sfor "Dive Into The Ocean", "Opalite" and "Immortal Love".

Great chart!

Take care.

Great to see new peak positions for Katy Perry, Tame Impala, Richard Ashcroft, Shaggy, Olly Murs, Selena Gomez, Damiano David, Amy Macdonald and Ella Langley 😁

New debuts for Alok, Taylor Swift and Mika 😁

Possibly only in GD my favourite Christmas songs left the chart in April.

Hey John!

That run for unconditional remains amazing. 14 weeks in and still at #7 is great.

It's good to see bandaids continuing to climb. I do hope her next single is like a proper pop bop. I wouldn't mind that at all.

A good climb for Xmas. Will it be all downhill from here though?

The fate of Ophelia is descending gracefully which I like. It's definitely in my top 3 Taylor tracks now.

I expect church to keep climbing here. Where are you at now with this? What are you feeling?

Great to see opalite enter but this hasn't really had the same impact on me as the fate of Ophelia.

Fantastic chart this week.

Hey John,

Nice debut for Taylor!! ❤️

Church climbing a lot!! A bop 😍

Katy almost Top10!! Very good song ❤️

On 04/01/2026 at 16:23, Sergej said:

Hhi John!

Nice to see the new peaks for "Bandaids" , "Fix What You Didn't Break", "You Can Get If You Really Want", "Run This Town", "Mysterious Girl", "Choosin' Texas" and "Esibizionista", the big gains for "Dream As One" and "Church" and the debut sfor "Dive Into The Ocean", "Opalite" and "Immortal Love".

Great chart!

Take care.

Hi Sergej! 🙂

Thanks for all the picks, nice to see Jimmy Cliff amongst your faves!

cheers! 😎

On 04/01/2026 at 19:20, SSP said:

Great to see new peak positions for Katy Perry, Tame Impala, Richard Ashcroft, Shaggy, Olly Murs, Selena Gomez, Damiano David, Amy Macdonald and Ella Langley 😁

New debuts for Alok, Taylor Swift and Mika 😁

Hi SSP!

Thanks for the picks, a nice mix of choices!

cheers! 😎

On 05/01/2026 at 08:05, Last Dreamer said:

Possibly only in GD my favourite Christmas songs left the chart in April.

A great xmas song often hangs on till the new year if it's new with me too 🙂

On 05/01/2026 at 17:06, JSG said:

Hey John!

That run for unconditional remains amazing. 14 weeks in and still at #7 is great.

It's good to see bandaids continuing to climb. I do hope her next single is like a proper pop bop. I wouldn't mind that at all.

A good climb for Xmas. Will it be all downhill from here though?

The fate of Ophelia is descending gracefully which I like. It's definitely in my top 3 Taylor tracks now.

I expect church to keep climbing here. Where are you at now with this? What are you feeling?

Great to see opalite enter but this hasn't really had the same impact on me as the fate of Ophelia.

Fantastic chart this week.

Hey James! 🙂

Thanks for the comments and picks! Jade building up quite a number of great tracks as she goes on. I'm a bit behind on the new Xmas songs so perversley they will be peaking after xmas! 😄Ophelia is officially her biggest track ever I think, as far as number one weeks on top, everyone seems to like it, even people who don't usually rate her. Church I'm still building on, needs a few more plays, I'm only hearing it once or twice a week at the mo as I'm not out and about in my car and have the radio on in the house (Radio 2 not playing it). Opalite took a long while to register with me - even though I have the album - but the video helped!

Cheers! 😎

On 06/01/2026 at 19:16, seltinpixmile said:

Hey John,

Nice debut for Taylor!! ❤️

Church climbing a lot!! A bop 😍

Katy almost Top10!! Very good song ❤️

Hey Seltin,

Thanks for the picks!

cheers! 😎

On 09/01/2026 at 11:28, Popchartfreak said:

Hey James! 🙂

Opalite took a long while to register with me - even though I have the album - but the video helped!

Cheers! 😎

I just spent about 5 minutes looking for the opalite video realising you were referring to the visualiser 🤣

Edited January 11Jan 11 by JSG