In subsequent years, the song entered the UK top 40 on 15 occasions, reaching the top 10 no less than 6 times (including a run of 5 consecutive years between 2016 and 2020). In 1985 and 2017 it equalled its best ever chart position of number two, before finally topping the charts on 1 January 2021, 36 years after its original 1984 release. In the process, "Last Christmas" achieved the chart record for the longest time taken for a single to peak at the top of the UK Singles Chart after its first release, a feat that had previously been held by "(Is This The Way To) Amarillo? by Tony Christie, which topped the chart in March 2005, 33 years and 4 months after its initial release in November 1971. On January 8, 2021, "Last Christmas" became the very first record to disappear completely from number one spot, exiting the Official Charts Company Top 100 chart with no placing on the chart (week ending 14 January 2021). As "Last Christmas" replaced "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by LadBaby, which had dropped down the singles chart to number 78 on January 1, it was the first time in chart history that two back-to-back number ones had disappeared not only from the BBC Radio 1 Top 40, but the Top 75 as well