The Last Christmas soundtrack is packed with songs from the music career of the late pop icon, George Michael. Michael's music plays an important role in the movie, hence the movie's title, which takes its name from a song written and performed by Michael, who died in 2016 on Christmas Day at the age of 56.
Directed by Paul Feig, Last Christmas was released in early November 2019. The film is a romantic comedy set at Christmas time starring Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke and Crazy Rich Asians actor Henry Golding. Clarke's Kate is an aspiring young singer with a history of making bad life choices. A year after a near-death experience, Kate is trying to get her life back on track when she meets Henry Golding's character, Tom, who keeps bumping into her and offering her advice. Kate begins to fall in love with the mysterious Tom, who disappears for lengths of time. Also featured in the cast of Last Christmas are Michelle Yeoh and Emma Thompson.
The Last Christmas soundtrack leans heavily on the music of George Michael, a singer who rose to fame in the 1980s, and continued to be one of pop music's most successful artists well into the 1990s. The Grammy Award-winning artist has had several of his singles hit the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Here are all the songs included on the Last Christmas soundtrack:
- "Freedom! 90" by George Michael
- "Too Funky" by George Michael
- "Fantasy" by George Michael
- "Faith" by George Michael
- "Waiting For That Day" by George Michael
- "Move On" by George Michael
- "Heal The Pain" by George Michael
- "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!
- "This Is How (We Want You To Get High)" by George Michael
- "Praying For Time" by George Michael
- "Praying For Time" by George Michael (MTV Unplugged Version)
- "Fastlove, Pt. 1" by George Michael
- "Everything She Wants" by Wham!
- "One More Try" by George Michael
- "Last Christmas" by Wham!
A whopping 15 of George Michael's songs are included on the Last Christmas soundtrack, 13 of which being from his solo career. Before going off on his own, Michael was one half of the pop duo, Wham!, which produced several of his most recognizable songs, including the film's title track, "Last Christmas" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". Three of Wham!'s songs are played in the movie in total.
The stand-out song in the soundtrack is quite possibly "This is How (We Want You To Get High)", only because it's never actually been released, until last week. The track was one of his final studio sessions. The six-minute song is played in its entirety in the credits of Last Christmas. Of course, the reason behind the use of so many George Michael songs is because Last Christmas is really a tribute to the late singer.