Paul McCartney ended an eventful 2023 by adding a couple more Billboard chart milestones to his long list of career achievements. A cover of McCartney’s 1979 holiday classic “Wonderful Christmastime” by Nigeria-born artist Blessing Offor landed at No. 1 on two Billboard charts–the Christian Airplay and Christian AC Airplay tallies–late last month.
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It’s Offor’s first time topping either chart as a solo artist. The singer also reached No. 1 on those tallies in 2022 as a featured artist on the tobyMac song “The Goodness.”
The Beatles great’s own version of “Wonderful Christmastime,” meanwhile, currently sits at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, its highest position ever on that tally. The tune also is ranked No. 21 and No. 24, respectively, on Billboard’s latest Holiday Airplay and Holiday Streaming Songs charts.
Chart Success with the New Beatles Song
The 81-year-old rock legend just finished up a year that saw the release of the new Beatles track “Now and Then,” which topped the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart and debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. As previously reported, the track was built around a demo John Lennon recorded in the late 1970s that McCartney and Ringo Starr helped finish recently by adding new vocals and instrumental parts.
McCartney’s Other 2023 Collaborations and Activities
McCartney also worked on a couple of other high-profile recording projects that were released in 2023. He wrote a song for Starr’s latest EP, Rewind Forward, and contributed vocals and bass to the track. Also, the two former Beatles are featured on a new version of the Fab Four classic “Let It Be” that Dolly Parton recorded for her Rockstar album.
In addition, McCartney played bass on a new Rolling Stones song, “Bite My Head Off,” which appears on the band’s 2023 album, Hackney Diamonds.
Also in 2023, mounted a new leg of his Got Back Tour that visited Australia, Mexico, and Brazil.
Coming in 2024
Looking ahead, McCartney will be releasing an expanded 50th anniversary reissue of Band on the Run, his hit 1973 album with his group Wings, on February 2. The deluxe collection will feature the original 10-track U.S. version of the album, plus an extra disc offering stripped-down “underdubbed” mixes of the nine songs.
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