Sixty-plus years after she last chart-topper, Brenda Lee has again topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart via her 1958-released holiday classic.
Sixty-plus years after hitting No. 1 with her last chart-topper “I’m Sorry” in 1960, 78-year-old Brenda Lee has again topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart via her 1958-released holiday classic “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”
The achievement breaks several records — many of which were held by Mariah Carey’s almost three-decade-old “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which Lee beat out for the top spot this week.
Noteworthy among those records is that Lee becomes the oldest person to top the chart. Louis Armstrong previously held the record as he was 62 when “Hello, Dolly” hit No. 1 in 1964.
“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is only the third holiday No. 1 ever on the Hot 100.
“I cannot believe that ‘Rockin” has hit No. 1 65 years after its release; this is just so special! Thank you to the team at UMG/UMe, who worked so hard to celebrate the song’s anniversary this year,” offered Lee in a press statement.”
To mark the song’s 65th anniversary, Lee paired with Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood to release the first-ever music video for “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”
A new EP, “A Rockin’ Christmas with Brenda Lee” — featuring “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” plus “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “A Marshmallow World” and dance remix of “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Filous — was also recently released.
Lee recorded multiple Christmas songs penned by songwriter Johnny Marks on the same day in 1956.
The record’s producer and iconic Nashville creator, Owen Bradley, offered advice about the finished song’s potential that no longer rings true in the present.
Lee will appear on Dec. 7’s NBC television special “Christmas at the Opry” to perform her now timelessly chart-topping smash. The program airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT and streams the next day on Peacock.