Ed Sheeran and Elton John‘s “Merry Christmas” dashes to No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart (dated Jan. 1, reflecting play in the Dec. 20-26 tracking week, according to MRC Data).

The coronation is historic for John, as he notches his record-extending 17th AC No. 1. The carol previously became his record-padding 41st top 10 and 75th entry overall on the tally.

John extends his lead over the Carpenters, who logged 15 AC No. 1s in 1970-81. Next up: Barry Manilow (13), Celine Dion, Lionel Richie (11 each), Whitney Houston and Olivia Newton-John (10 each).

Here’s a recap of John’s 17 AC chart-toppers:

“Daniel,” two weeks at No. 1, beginning May 12, 1973
“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” with Kiki Dee, one, Sept. 11, 1976
“Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” one, Dec. 18, 1976
“Mama Can’t Buy You Love,” one, Aug. 25, 1979
“Little Jeannie,” two, June 14, 1980
“Blue Eyes,” two, Sept. 11, 1982
“That’s What Friends Are For” (Dionne & Friends; Dionne Warwick, John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder), two, Jan. 11, 1986
“I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That,” one, Aug. 20, 1988
“Healing Hands,” one, Oct. 21, 1989
“You Gotta Love Someone,” five, Dec. 15, 1990
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” with George Michael, two, Feb. 8, 1992
“The One,” six, July 25, 1992
“Simple Life,” three, March 20, 1993
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” eight, July 9, 1994
“Believe,” two, May 20, 1995
“Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” 10, Nov. 22, 1997
“Merry Christmas,” with Ed Sheeran, one to-date, Jan. 1, 2022

John now claims the longest span of leading the AC chart: 48 years, seven months and three weeks, from “Daniel” to “Merry Christmas.” He passes Chicago, with a stretch of 25 years, 10 months and two weeks, from “Beginnings” in 1971 to “Here in My Heart” in 1997.

John also breaks the record for the longest break between AC No. 1s: 24 years, one month and two weeks. The Eagles previously held the mark, with a wait of a week shy of 20 years between “Best of My Love” in 1975 and “Love Will Keep Us Alive” in 1995.

“Merry Christmas” is the fifth AC No. 1 for John’s fellow British co-lead Sheeran, after “Thinking Out Loud,” which reigned for 19 weeks beginning in March 2015; “Shape of You” (24 weeks, May 2017); “Perfect” (22 weeks, February 2018); and “Bad Habits” (one week to-date, this December).

Further, “Merry Christmas” is the 27th holiday No. 1 on the AC chart since 2000, around the time that most stations in the format began playing seasonal songs 24/7 between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. It’s the second this season, as it dethrones Michael Bublé’s “Let It Snow! (10th Anniversary)” after three weeks at the summit.

Meanwhile, “Merry Christmas” already boasts a successful reworking: LadBaby’s charity single “Sausage Rolls for Everyone,” featuring Sheeran and John, is the piping hot new No. 1 on the Official UK Singles chart. It also opens at No. 1 on the U.S-based Holiday Digital Song Sales chart with 8,400 sold in the Dec. 17-23 tracking week.

All charts will update Wednesday (Dec. 29) on billboard.com.

Scottish singer Tom Walker praised the piano skills of the Duchess of Cambridge after the pair recorded a Christmas tune that was shown during a carol concert.

Walker, 30, performed a new song, “For Those Who Can’t Be Here,” accompanied by the 39-year-old Kate Middleton playing the piano, in a prerecorded segment shown during the concert broadcast on ITV on Friday (Dec. 24).

Walker said he had kept the performance a secret — even from his mother.

“She was in floods of tears watching it on the telly,” he told the BBC. “It was beautiful.”

Walker had performed at a charity event in front of the duchess, and when asked to play at the carol service he offered to perform a song the public hadn’t yet heard.

“So I sent it over to the team and they absolutely loved it, and then a week later they came back and said ‘Um, would it be alright if the duchess played along with you?’″ he recalled. “And I was like ‘What?’”

The pair rehearsed for a few weeks.

“She picked it up so well, it’s really not easy to go from not playing with other musicians for like 10 years to jumping straight in with like a whole band you’ve never met and camera crews doing live takes that’s being filmed in Westminster Abbey so I thought it just went so well,″ he said. “She’s [a] very talented musician.”

Kate and Prince William spearheaded the program, Royal Carols: Together at Christmas. The Westminster Abbey event was attended by those who had spent time with Kate and William during recent engagements.

Walker rose to fame after the release of his single “Leave a Light On” in June 2018.

JoJo and Dexter Darden are engaged. The singer and actor shared their happy news on Dec. 25.

“forever with YOU? Sign me UP,” JoJo gushed in a Christmas day post on Instagram, where she uploaded a series of photos and video clips celebrating the couple’s special moment — including a closeup of a sparkling engagement ring.

“celebrating Christmas a whole fiancé!!! the most thoughtful, creative, positive, handsome, strong, loving, uplifting human being asked me to marry him. so obviously I said YESSS!!!” she wrote.

JoJo added, “thank you for the most epic birthday surprise ever. and for flying out my mom, your mom, and both of our best friends to share in that incredible moment with us. you are one of one.”

“Yupppppp,” Darden, who plays Devante Young on Peacock’s Saved by the Bell, commented on the post. “thank you for being my forever.”

The singer, whose Trying Not to Think About It EP was released in October, recently performed for the Miss Universe pageant after returning to the stage for a mini tour in the fall. She’ll be back on the road in 2022.

“I want to tell my fans: You’ve given me so much,” she wrote in an October article for Billboard. “I hope that what I’m able to give you makes you just a sliver as happy as what you make me like your support. You sing these words back to me. You talking s— with me on Twitter — like, it’s so cool to be connected with all these people around the world through music, and through a similar spirit. A lot of us have lived different lives, but we’ve all felt similar ways and I think that’s really powerful.”

See their sweet post on Instagram.