logo

The UK chooses Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name as its favourite Christmas Number One

A campaign was organised after years of X Factor dominance.

Rage Against The Machine

Image: Greetsia Tent / Getty

When you purchase through affiliate links on Guitar.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn more.

UK music fans have chosen Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name as their all-time favourite Christmas Number One.

A new poll, organised by the UK’s Official Charts in collaboration with Nine Eight books, asked the public to choose their favourite through a series of heats. After the semi-finals, two tracks remained: Killing In The Name, and The Spice Girls’ 2 Become 1.

The poll chose the former, although it was close: 48.7 per cent voted for The Spice Girls, and 51.3 per cent voted for Rage Against The Machine.

The track was number one in the UK charts on 20 December 2009. This followed a campaign organised by English DJ John Morter and his wife Tracy, which aimed to topple the reign of The X Factor – a single from the reality TV show had claimed the Christmas Number One spot for four consecutive years. The campaign drew criticism from X Factor perpetrator Simon Cowell, who called it “cynical”, and implied it was aimed directly at him.

John Morter told NME at the time: “​​We’ve nothing personal against [Cowell] at all, we just do not want yet another Christmas chart-topper from that show again.”

Right now, the race for the Christmas number one is heating up. Leading the charge is a track called Sausage Rolls For Everyone by LadBaby, Ed Sheeran and Elton John. We’ve also been given a dose of Christmas anarchy this year, albeit with a more UK-centric political message. The Kunts’ track Boris Johnson Is A F****** C**t has entered the week’s charts at number five.

logo

The world’s leading authority and resource for all things guitar.

© 2024 Guitar.com is part of NME Networks.