Rage Against The Machine

All week there has been great interest in the Official UK Singles Chart as Rage Against the Machine and Joe McElderry have been battling it out for the 2009 Christmas Number One spot. Rage Against the Machine had been ahead all week, with the physical release of Joe McElderry’s ‘The Climb’ the X-Factor artist began to start catching up however, leading to a very tense weekend where it could have gone either way. Rage Against the Machine has ultimately won the bottle, with ‘Killing in the Name’ officially revealed as the UK Christmas Number One 2009.

In beating off the competition from Joe McElderry, Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ has become the first ever track to reach the number one spot on downloads alone. ‘Killing in the Name’ amassed total sales in excess of 500,000 for the week, and the Facebook group ‘RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1’ has been a huge success, not just in getting Rage Against the Machine to Number One, but also in raising over £70,000 for the Shelter charity.

This is the first time since 2004 that an X-Factor artist has not occupied the UK Christmas Number One spot.

With Rage Against The Machine ahead in the mid-week charts, Simon Cowell looks to have quite a battle on his hands in the race for this year’s Christmas number one. “F**k you, I won’t do what you tell me” seems to be the message to Simon Cowell here, with people fed up of being told what single to buy each year in the week leading up to Christmas.

‘The Climb’ from Hannah Montana the Movie was the X-Factor single of choice this year, and as Joe McElderry was the winner of the X-Factor 2009, his version of ‘The Climb’ was released at 12am on Monday December 14th as his first single as a solo artist.

The Facebook group ‘RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1’ currently has close to 800,000 members, and the people behind it have been able to raise over £35,000 for the Shelter charity as a result of the group’s great success. Even if ‘Killing In The Name’ doesn’t reach Number One this Christmas then the group will still have done a great deal of good, and if you’d like to make a donation then you can do so here.

The Christmas Number One will definitely be an interesting one this year, and from 4-7pm on Sunday December 20th, I for one will most definitely be tuned into 98.8 for the Radio 1 Official Chart Show.