December 16, 2009 12:10

Rage Against The Machine beating 'X Factor' by 65,000 sales in Christmas Number One race

Mid-week sales figures for Christmas Number one revealed

Photo Gallery: Rage Against The Machine
Photo: PA Photos

Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' had been downloaded 65,437 times more than Joe McElderry's 'The Climb' in the race for the UK Christmas Number One as of yesterday (December 15), it has emerged.

According to leaked midweek charts compiled by the Official Charts Company, 'Killing In The Name' had been downloaded 175,163 times, compared to 109,726 times for 'The Climb'.

However The X Factor winner McElderry's single, a cover of a song by Miley Cyrus, is released physically today (16), with physical sales expected to give it a huge boost in the chart.

Rage Against The Machine's song has entered the charts as the result of a Facebook campaign to get it to the top spot ahead of this year's The X Factor champion.

Simon Cowell has slammed the Facebook campaign, calling it "stupid", "cynical" and "very Scrooge". Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello has publicly given the campaign his backing.

For more on The X Factor and its effect on British music, get the new issue of NME, on UK newsstands nationwide, for an exclusive interview with Cowell.