GabyFor years, an online game called “Whamageddon” has been popular in some UK online communities. The rules are simple and oddly thrilling: from December 1 through the 24th, players try to avoid hearing Wham!’s original “Last Christmas” (remixes and covers don’t count). Anyone who hears it must immediately concede on social media with the hashtag #Whamageddon.
That the game exists isn’t surprising: from the first days of December, the most famous Christmas pop hit seems to follow you everywhere. If your ears escape the tune on TV or in a taxi, the supermarket often gets you—shopping aisles are where players warn each other to be most careful. George Michael’s song, like Ukraine’s “Shchedryk,” has been an unofficial holiday anthem since the early 1980s and, like many pop songs, moved into heavy commercial rotation.
Here are a few sometimes-mystical stories tied to this perennial hit.
Story One: A Magical Miracle in a Child’s Room
In the winter of 1984, George Michael and his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley were visiting their parents. A sports match was on TV and the evening felt like a typical family night. Then, as if seized by inspiration, George got up, left Andrew for a while, and locked himself in his childhood bedroom. About an hour later, as Andrew later recalled, 21-year-old George returned with the manuscript of what would become the pop classic.
Wham! in 1985: George Michael (left) and Andrew Ridgeley. Photo: By Louise Palanker, flickr.com
That fall, they recorded the song at London’s Advision studio. George (born Georgios) didn’t play an instrument, but he wrote the duo’s songs, so during the session he steered the production and pushed for a contemporary sound. To get into the mood—despite recording in August—he decorated the studio with Christmas trimmings.
If you assume the lyrics are about Christmas trees, Santa, and holiday miracles, think again. It’s actually a very sad song about a failed relationship that began on December 25, when the song’s narrator metaphorically gave away his heart:
“Last Christmas I gave you my heart,
But the very next day you gave it away.”
The music video, filmed in the snowy Swiss Alps at Zermatt, looks carefree at first—snow, mountains, romance—but the plot flips that image: Michael’s character spots a brooch on his lover’s new friend’s jacket, the same brooch he gave her in “Last Christmas.” It’s a plain old love triangle.
(Wham! “Last Christmas” music video)
Story Two: The Plagiarism That Wasn’t
In the mid-1980s, after the song became a huge hit and started generating real money, the publishing company Dick James Music—owned by the famous British publisher who had worked with The Beatles—claimed that “Last Christmas” resembled “Can’t Smile Without You,” a 1970s song associated with The Carpenters and Barry Manilow. The company sued George Michael for plagiarism. The case went nowhere, though: a musicologist hired by the duo presented more than 60 compositions with similar chord progressions and melodies, and the suit was dismissed.
The Carpenters’ song does bear a resemblance, but so do dozens of other pop songs. Judge for yourself:
(The Carpenters “Can’t Smile Without You”)
By the late 1990s, after George Michael publicly came out, British journalists debated the song’s true meaning. Some asked whether the lyrics described heterosexual love or something else, since the words are never explicit. Some interpreted it as the story of a closeted gay man watching his romance collapse. There’s even a study titled “How George Michael’s Song Reveals the Loneliness of Life in the Closet.” Michael never directly commented on that reading, though he once suggested not all his songs were about same-sex relationships.
Story Three: The Unexpected Reincarnation of the Song
George Michael died on Christmas Day—December 25, 2016. He died at his home in South Oxfordshire in his sleep from heart failure.
George Michael at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Photo: flickr.com
The singer’s partner Fadi Fawaz wrote on Twitter, “This Christmas I will never forget. I will never stop missing you.”
The coincidence sparked headlines: with the song titled “Last Christmas,” some read the title as “the final Christmas.”
Some critics argued that despite his success and talent, Michael’s career suffered in later years. He fought a long legal battle with Sony for independence, accused the company of underfunding his second album Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, then refused to release new material until his contract ended. Scandals also affected him: an arrest for lewd conduct in a public restroom after being confronted by an undercover police officer, incidents involving driving under the influence, drug possession, car accidents, and, biographers say, an unhealthy lifestyle. Like other megastars, Michael was reportedly preparing a major comeback shortly before his death.
Many notable events tied to “Last Christmas” happened after Michael’s death. For example, the song reached No. 1 on the UK charts on January 1, 2021—36 years after its release; in 1984 it had stalled at No. 2. In 2019, Sony (the company Michael had battled) issued an updated 4K version of the “Last Christmas” video; fans commented that the visuals looked like hired actors in ’80s costumes.
Scene from the movie “Last Christmas,” 2019
That same year, the feature film Last Christmas (released in some places as Happy Christmas) starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding arrived in theaters. It’s a rare case of a movie built around a single song. Part of the plot takes place in a homeless shelter where George Michael once volunteered anonymously. The film’s development involved Emma Thompson as a writer, and she also makes a cameo in the movie.
(Official trailer for the movie “Last Christmas”)
Bonus: Cover Versions
Over almost four decades, the song has been covered and remixed many times. Jimmy Eat World, Ariana Grande, Gwen Stefani, Taylor Swift, and others put their own spin on the classic. The oddest—and strangely successful—version came from the novelty act Crazy Frog, which reached No. 16 on the UK charts. We hope it lifts your spirits a bit, and we wish you happy holidays!
Recently, artificial intelligence imagined what George Michael might look like for Christmas 2023—the hypothetical scenario of what might have happened if his life had not ended on December 25, 2016.
