Killing in the Name is the UK christmas number 1.
The evil that is X factor and Simon Cowell has been defeated, its a little christmas miracle.

Wow. That's unusual - this is the best christmas #1 since Queen in '91...

It was as a result of a campaign started on Facebook. It amassed a total of over half a million download sales this week to beat the X factor winner Joe something or other (Mcelderry I think) by 50,000 sales.

What is Killing in the Name?

The Rage Against The Machine song, ranked #763 on AM.

Yeah; I thought that's what you were referring to, but I'm still a little confused as to how that became the number one Christmas song in Britain.

the internet is an awesome place.

If I understand it correctly, this was the result of a concentrated effort by British music fans to try to prevent what apparently has been happening at Christmastime every year in the U.K. in recent years: a near-automatic #1 single for whatever cookie-cutter act won the TV talent competition X-FACTOR. A few bloggers came up with the idea of promoting mass downloads of the most anti-X-FACTOR song they could think of, which in this case was "Killing in the Name." Somehow, the grass-roots campaign snowballed to unforeseen proportions, and the end result is that a 17-year old hard-rock classic is the U.K.'s #1 song for Christmas week. Atheists everywhere are currently rethinking their positions.

I think those who are unfamiliar with the phenomenon of the Christmas single in the UK may be a little confused. Correct me if I'm wrong, you Brits out there, but somehow it has become a very big deal to be the #1 song in the country on the charts released just prior to Christmas. It does not have to be a Christmas song, and is often not.

What I am confused about is why it has become such a huge deal to have the #1 Christmas single, as opposed to any other week. Is it because back when you bought actual vinyl singles, that meant there were a ton of people buying it as Christmas presents? Or is it just because of how huge the Christmas season is in Britain?

I think its just a reflection of how big christmas is in this part of the world, both in Britain and here in Ireland. And Harold, you've pritty much summed up the whole situation perfectly, its been X-factor all the way for the last 4 years.

Rage Against The Machine are donating all profits from their surprise number one to charities supporting homeless people. Considering the cold snap we are having in Europe right now, it's quite an appropriate cause.