Did You Know… that the oldest artist to have a #1 Hot 100 hit first charted at age 12?
On December 6, 2023, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” topped the Hot 100. Two days later she celebrated her 79th birthday.
Brenda Lee (born Brenda Mae Tarpley on December 11, 1944) was only five years old when she won first prize in a Georgia talent contest. That led to regular singing spots on a popular Atlanta radio show, and then on a local TV program.
Her big break came when she gave an impromptu performance at one of legendary country star Red Foley’s live shows. Foley was impressed and asked her to join his ABC network television show.
The first song Brenda sang there was Hank Williams’s “Jambalaya (On The Bayou).” It also became her first single release in September 1956.
Her third 45, “One Step At A Time,” reached #15 on the Billboard country chart and #43 on the Hot 100 the next year. Brenda was just 12 years old.
It marked the beginning of a decades-long career, during which Brenda placed 28 sides in the Hot 100 Top 40, and had strong Top 10 showings on the country and adult contemporary charts.
Her remarkable success was recognized when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll, Country, and Rockabilly Halls of Fame, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
How ironic, then, that her place in the record books was ultimately secured by a Christmas song she released 65 years before it reached #1!
In October 1958, 13-year-old Brenda entered the studio to record “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.” To help set the mood, the producer brought in a Christmas tree and several musicians donned Santa suits.
The single initially sold modestly and failed to chart until the 1960 holiday season, after Brenda had the #1s “I’m Sorry” and “I Want To Be Wanted.”
Over the years, “Rockin’” became a perennial holiday favorite, which experienced a major boost when it was featured in the blockbuster 1990 film Home Alone.
Streaming finally gave the song the last push to the top.
The song returned to the Hot 100 and reached the #2 position in four consecutive years from 2019 through 2022. In 2023, it went all the way to #1, and then peaked at #2 again in 2024 and 2025.
Sixty-five years after she recorded it, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” gave Brenda Lee the most extraordinary chart achievement of her life.
Here’s Brenda’s delightful music video featuring some very special guest cameos.
(Can you name whose record Brenda broke as the oldest artist to have a #1 hit?)
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