Last Christmas, Brenda Lee achieved a remarkable feat when her 1958 holiday single, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time. At 78 years old, Lee became the oldest artist to top the chart, and the song also set a record for the longest time from initial release to reaching No. 1—an astounding 65 years!
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This Christmas, Lee, now 80, celebrates her enduring holiday hit with a new PBS American Masters documentary, “Brenda Lee: Still Rockin’.” The 51-minute special features appearances by Keith Urban, Pat Benatar, Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood, and Lee herself, who recounts the origins of her signature song.
“I recorded ‘Rockin” when I was 12,” she says. “Johnny Marks wrote it. I said, ‘Johnny, you don’t even believe in Christmas,’ and I said, ‘Tell me how you wrote ‘Rockin’?'”
“He said, ‘I was laying on the beach in New York,’ and pine trees were over to this side.’ And then he said, ‘I kind of went to sleep to take a little nap, and I woke up and I was facing the pine trees, and they were just kind of swinging like this [moves her hands back and forth].’ And he thought, ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.’ And there it was.”
Initially, the song wasn’t a hit. However, Lee’s career skyrocketed in the 1960s, with two No. 1 hits, “I’m Sorry” and “I Want to Be Wanted,” in the decade’s first year. During that Christmas, Lee’s first as a major star, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” finally entered the Hot 100, peaking at No. 14.
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It wasn’t until 30 years later that the song reemerged as a beloved Christmas classic, embraced by generations. Lee, a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, vividly remembers the song’s resurgence.
“I got a call on the phone, and they said, ‘Brenda! Brenda! There’s a movie out. It’s called Home Alone, and your song’s all over it,’ ” she recalls in the documentary. “And I said, ‘Which song? What are you talking about?’ They said, ‘Rockin’,’ it’s all over it.’ Well, it just went from there.”
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Once again a holiday staple, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” reached No. 2 in 2019, five years after Billboard revised its chart rules to allow older releases to re-chart. The song held the No. 2 spot from 2020 to 2022 before finally claiming the top position in 2023. Last year, Lee released her first-ever music video for the song, featuring Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood.
“Brenda Lee is a part of families, and has been part of their life [for] their entire life,” Keith Urban remarks in the documentary. “And that’s an extraordinary accomplishment with just one song…. There’s certain perennial Christmas songs that stand the test of time, and Brenda’s got one of them.”
“Brenda Lee: Rockin’ Around” is currently streaming on PBS as part of its American Masters series.
