December 4, 2009 12:54

Rage Against The Machine to take on 'The X Factor' for Christmas Number One

Thousands of fans sign up to Facebook petition to buy 'Killing In The Name'

Photo Gallery: Rage Against The Machine
Photo: PA

Rage Against The Machine are to make a bid to beat this year's winner of 'The X Factor' to the UK's Christmas Number One single position.

A Facebook group asking people to buy the band's 'Killing In The Name' has at the time of writing attracted over 45,000 members.

The group states that fans should buy the song from December 13 – the same day that this year's X Factor winner's song becomes available.

Twitter users are also showing their support for the petition by retweeting the following message: "Rage Against The Machine For Xmas No.1 #ratm4xmas See here for details http://bit.ly/inthename please RT".

Although it hasn't been confirmed yet, the winner of 'The X Factor' 2009 is reportedly set to release a cover of Miley Cyrus' 'The Climb' as their Christmas single.

A similar petition for Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' was launched last year in reaction to 'The X Factor' winner Alexandra Burke releasing her version of the song for Christmas.

Although Burke still topped the UK singles charts with the song, Buckley's rendition of the Leonard Cohen classic reached the Number Two position.

This year's Christmas Number One single will be announced on December 20.

Blog - Is the Rage Against The Machine/Facebook campaign misguided?