All I Want for Christmas is You has been unwrapped as the UK’s least-favourite Christmas song, according to a new study.
The research, conducted by Paddy Power Games, delved into the nation’s Christmas listening habits to reveal the most divisive tracks – which found that one-in-five Brits (20%) would happily pass on Mariah Carey’s festive classic.
Lower down on the list, Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe (12%), and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? (11.9%) rounded out the top three.
BRITS’ TOP 10 MOST DISLIKED CHRISTMAS SONGS
| Rank | Song Name | % who say it’s their least favourite song |
| 1 | All I Want for Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey | 19.5% |
| 2 | Mistletoe – Justin Bieber | 12.0% |
| 3 | Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid | 11.9% |
| 4 | Fairytale of New York – The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl | 11.7% |
| 5 | I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard | 10.9% |
| 6 | Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon & Yoko Ono | 10.6% |
| 7 | Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End) – The Darkness | 10.5% |
| 8 | A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives | 10.3% |
| 9 | Feliz Navidad – José Feliciano | 10.2% |
| 10 | Last Christmas – Wham! | 10.1% |
Although synonymous with the festive season, the UK seemingly doesn’t recognise Mariah any other time of the year. When given a list of ten iconic ballads from various artists, which included Mariah Carey’s We Belong Together, Without You and Vision of Love, a shocking 67% of Brits couldn’t name a single song belonging to her. Furthermore, just 2% could name all three on the list.
While Mariah might not be to everyone’s taste, it seems Christmas music is a year-round affair for some. Nearly one in four Brits (22%) admit they carry festive cheer into January to beat the post-holiday blues. A dedicated 3.4 million people1 (5%) even confess to listening to Christmas music all year long.
Christmas tunes can also be a divisive topic in the workplace, but it seems most Brits are open to a little festive cheer— but with limits. Almost four in ten (39%) enjoy hearing holiday music at work, but only if it’s played in the weeks immediately leading up to Christmas.
For others, the sound of sleigh bells is less welcome – with 3% of employees resorting to wearing headphones throughout December to block out the jingles, while another 2% have even taken to working from home just to avoid the seasonal soundtracks altogether.
Brits are clearly nostalgic for old Christmas hits – with nearly half (49%) preferring to stick with old classics over newer festive releases. 16% believe there’s still room for more Christmas songs to be written, almost the same number of people (15%) think there are already too many holiday tunes in circulation. 8% of the population even go so far as to say no more new Christmas songs should be made at all.
Paddy Power Games spokesperson, Paddy Power, said: “It turns out that all Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is some more love from the UK – with the nation not only voting her Christmas hit as the worst, but not knowing any of her other songs!
“And to the 5% of Brits still rocking around the Christmas tree in July – we wish it was Christmas everyday as well!”
