Mariah Carey’s festive classic All I Want For Christmas Is You has finally reached number one in the UK – 26 years after its release.

The song initially peaked at number two in 1994, missing out to East 17’s Stay Another Day, and the last three years have seen it return to match that original chart position.

But it has now reached the top spot following a closely fought battle with fellow festive anthem Last Christmas by Wham!.

The track notched up 10.8 million streams over the last seven days – the most in a week by any song in 2020 so far.

The uptempo R&B-tinged song has become a hallmark of the festive period and earned Carey the “Queen of Christmas” title.

It has secured 1.24 million pure sales in its lifetime, making it the UK’s 84th best-selling song, according to Official Charts Company data.

All I Want For Christmas Is You also breaks another chart record – no other song has spent more weeks in the top 40 before eventually reaching number one.

Mariah said: “Happy Christmas UK. We finally made it. We are keeping the Christmas spirit alive together despite how dismal the year’s been. Love you always. Joy to the world.”

The news was announced by Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1’s The Official Chart show.

He said: “Truly one of the greatest songs never to be number one has finally reached the top spot and on the 11th of December. Hopefully it can hold on until Christmas Day.”

Mariah leads the way as a number of Christmas songs return to the charts, including Last Christmas by Wham! at two, Fairytale Of New York by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl at four and Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone at six.