Brenda Lee Talks Rockin’ Around The Top of The Charts With A Christmas Classic

Brenda Lee is sitting atop Billboard’s Hot 100 with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” for a second week – 65 years after the holiday classic was first released.

The spunky Rock & Roll and Country Music Hall of Famer couldn’t be having more fun if Santa personally brought champagne to the hot tub!

Keith Urban drafted Lee to close this year’s sold-out All for the Hall Benefit at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Marveling at the euphoria the superstar generates, he opted to put “Little Miss Dynamite” on stage halfway through the show.

“It was incredible to see her, surreal even,” allows the Australian guitarist/supernova.
“I was captivated by her dynamo energy: she’s like an ornament that bounces off the
tree, and just keeps bouncing. And that song is part of our existence on Earth; I don’t think about it being written by a person, it’s just Christmas.”

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which Lee recorded at age 13, sold over 15 million units before its 21st-century renaissance, moving more than 5 million domestic downloads and scoring a home in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2019.

In early November Lee released a new music video for the tune with appearances by Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood. And now – having turned 79 on Dec. 11 – she holds the record for the oldest artist to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, topping Louis Armstrong’s record, set in 1964 when he was 62 with his version of “Hello, Dolly!” Mariah Carey previously held the record as the oldest woman to top the chart with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” at age 53.

Pollstar: Sixty-five years later, you’re No. 1!
Brenda Lee: After all these years, it’s like a new age, a little surreal.

What did you think when you first heard the song?
I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. I got to be friends with Johnny Marks, who wrote it, and it’s never sounded dated. It’s always been so fresh.

Did you “get” it?
I’ve always known the song’s meaning. (laughs) It’s a good happy song that’s not hard to decipher.

I think about Owen Bradley, who produced it, the “A Team,” which is what we called those great players, the Anita Kerr Singers, every radio station that’s ever played it, the people who love it.

I think about how old I was when I recorded it, and I so wanted to be the one who got it. It’s amazing because you never know what the public’s gonna catch on to! You hope for the best, but this has far exceeded any possible thought.

Keith Urban told me you killed at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s All For The Hall benefit at Bridgestone Arena.
That never gets old! It’s a thrill every time you go on stage, you hear people singing your song with you. Almost a stamp of approval.

Is it any different now?
It may be how you can act at concerts. I remember going to concerts with Rita Coolidge, going to see Jackie Wilson, thinking, “Can we? Should we (dance and squeal)?” People really wanted to, but didn’t.

Are they less inhibited than we were as teenagers and young adults? I don’t know, but they’re having a lot of fun.

How did that response feel?
It’s like you’re there, but you’re not there. You’re standing on the fringe, looking at the stage. You see it’s you; you know it’s you – and you’re sure it’s you. But it’s happening to you.

Does this mean a Christmas tour next year?
I didn’t think I’d ever go out and tour again, but don’t ever say never! Hearing “Brenda, you need to go out and tour”? (laughs) I’m kind of enjoying the unknown of it right now.

Awesome.
You don’t stop having fun, Holly, because you got older. As we get older, if the good Lord lets us, things aren’t as serious as we thought. Be yourself … like yourself … and let the punches fall where they will.

Any secrets?
My record label! Especially the folks in Nashville, what I call Decca, but Universal. They are the coolest, sweetest, most giving bunch. They’re willing to go that extra mile, some don’t even know my music, but they wanted this so much for me.

I’ve had such a wonderful journey in what I do. Have there been ups and downs? Sure. If I said “not,” I’d be lying. But that’s why there are numbers under 1. If you love it, then that’s what keeps you going.

Is your tree up?
I don’t have a tree yet, but I always have a big ole tree. It’s probably 8 feet high. I’ve got ornaments from the time I got married, even before, and from the kids. We’re gonna get it up in the next few days. You just know we are.