Shakin’ Stevens’ ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ celebrates its 40th anniversary this month – and new airplay data from PPL shows the festive favourite is being heard more than ever on UK airwaves.
Originally released on 25 November 1985, the song went on to become that year’s UK Christmas number 1. Since then, it has become a seasonal staple across radio and TV – and, based on data compiled by PPL, its popularity continues to grow.
‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ has amassed 18 million seconds of radio and TV airplay, the equivalent of over half a year of continuous airplay, since the start of the 21st century. That’s more than 86,000 plays – around 11 plays a day.
Last year, in 2024, ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ received its highest number of UK plays in over two decades, with more than 11,000 broadcasts across radio and television – a sign of the song’s continued popularity during the festive season.
On the track’s enduring appeal 40 years after its release, Shakin’ Stevens told PPL:
“If I’ve learned any lessons during my career – it’s learning to trust my intuition, and the importance of timing.”
“When I first heard the demo for ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’, I was certain that I wanted to record it, and so it was recorded months before the festive season, in the heat of summer,” he explained. “But when it came closer to the scheduled time for release, it became clear that we were all about to experience a massive Christmas single in the form of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ If anyone believes that they should release a festive single at the same time as a song that promises to be a massive charity record, then please think again!
“In any event, I wanted to delay mine, for a further year, and my head of A&R trusted my judgement. Common sense prevailed, and by delaying the release of ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ for a year, we gained a number 1 Christmas hit, and I found a good friend in the writer, Bob Heatlie – who was a truly gentle man.”
PPL, which licenses recorded music for use on UK radio and television, and in public spaces such as bars, restaurants and gyms, compiled the figures using extensive airplay reporting data from radio and TV broadcasters across the country.
