American rap metal icons Rage Against The Machine have sensationally beaten off competition to win this year’s race for Christmas number one.
The death of the single? Pah. In recent weeks all eyes have been on the race for Christmas number one as a fan led campaign threatened to derail one of the biggest entertainment companies on the planet.
After one fan started a Facebook group with his wife the campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to the top off the charts took on undreamt of momentum. Their track ‘Killing In The Name’ faced off with X Factor winner Joe McElderry, who triumphed on the talent show amid record viewing figures.
In a week that has seen the lead move between both parties it seems that the X Factor singer has come second. Rage Against The Machine have topped the festive charts for 2009, with ‘Killing In The Name’ becoming the first track to do so on download sales alone.
The rap metal group sold more than 500,000 copies – enough to beat Joe McElderry’s cover of ‘The Climb’. The Newcastle sold 450,000 copies, a stunning figure which demonstrates the public interest in the race.
Indeed, McElderry’s single may have been damaged by the recent blitz of poor weather, with sales tapering off as the chill set in. However this is now all in the past, with Rage Against The Machine scoring a sensational chart victory.
Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot says:
“Congratulations to Rage Against The Machine on their number one – as we have seen in recent years, overhauling any X Factor winner in the race for the Christmas number one is no mean achievement. The popular support we have seen for the record this week has been truly amazing – and handed them two all-time records.”
“But congratulations too should also go to Joe McElderry. In taking the number two spot, he has still achieved one of the highest weekly sales of any single this year – in almost any other year, 450,000 copies would have given him the Christmas number one. Through this week, these two tracks have accounted for more than 950,000 single sales, a fact which is truly remarkable.”
However it’s not all bad news for Simon Cowell. Susan Boyle’s debut album ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ tops the charts for a fourth consecutive week.
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Clash spoke the Facebook campaign founder John Morter as news broke of RATM making number 1, read the interview HERE.
Following the display of people power mobilised by the victory, Clash asks “Why the hell has that not happened over slightly more vital issues?”. Read our comment HERE.
