RATM beat McElderry to Christmas No. 1

[dutchman]

Rage Against The Machine have beaten X Factor winner Joe McElderry to the Christmas number one.

The band's 1992 single 'Killing In The Name' sold over 500,000 copies this week after a Facebook campaign urged fans to stop McElderry from reaching the top spot.

Rage Against The Machine led the race from the beginning of the week, although their advantage slipped when the CD version of McElderry's debut single 'The Climb' was released on Wednesday and by Friday morning they were ahead by just 9,000 copies. However, they went on to sell over 200,000 copies on Friday and Saturday.

McElderry sold over 450,000 copies of 'The Climb', but sales of the CD dropped over the last couple of days. The Official Charts Company suggested that the fall in sales could be linked to the bad weather.

'Killing In The Name' has now become the UK's first download-only Christmas number one and has broken the record for the biggest one-week download sales in British chart history.

The Official Charts Company's managing director Martin Talbot said: "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 Christmas number one is no mean achievement. The public 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."

He added: "Through this week, these two tracks have accounted for 950,000 single sales, a fact which is truly remarkable."

The top ten singles in full:

1. (-) Rage Against The Machine: 'Killing In The Name'
2. (-) Joe McElderry: 'The Climb'
3. (1) Lady GaGa: 'Bad Romance'
4. (2) Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band: 'The Official BBC Children In Need Medley'
5. (-) 3OH!3 ft. Katy Perry: 'Starstrukk
6. (15) Robbie Williams: 'You Know Me'
7. (14) Cheryl Cole: '3 Words'
8. (3) Rihanna: 'Russian Roulette'
9. (-) Journey: 'Don't Stop Believin'
10. (4) Black Eyed Peas: 'Meet Me Halfway'

Source: Official Charts Company