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Did You Know Brenda Lee Was Only 13 Years Old When She Recorded “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree?”
It’s that time of year again.
If you’re like me and you hate Christmas music…well, we’ll get through it together.
But if you’re one of those people who started listening to Christmas music on November 1, chances are you’ve already heard this song a few hundred times this year. (No, I’m not talking about the Mariah Carey song, but everybody’s already heard that one a million times too).
“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” remains one of the most popular songs of the holiday season, despite the fact that it was released way back in 1958. It got a boost in popularity with a whole new audience back in the ’90s when the song was featured in Home Alone, and it’s been a staple of holiday playlists ever since.
Written by Johnny Marks, who also penned holiday classics like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Holly Jolly Christmas,” the song was recorded by Brenda Lee – who was only 13 years old at the time.
Lee herself says that she has no idea why she was asked to record the song, but recalls that her producer Owen Bradley wanted to make sure that the young child was in the Christmas spirit when she recorded it (in the middle of summer). So he decorated the studio with a Christmas tree and had the band members dress as Santa. And according to Lee, it worked:
“It was a lot of fun. It really was. The warmth of the studio, the laughter, the magic—it all just took hold that day.”
Of course, plenty of people are shocked when they find out that it wasn’t a 60-something year old lady but actually a 13-year old little girl singing the song they’ve heard every holiday season:
I refuse to believe Brenda Lee was only 13 when she made that song
— Kat (@KathlynnDeHaan) November 24, 2023
brenda lee was 13 when she recorded Rockin Around the Christmas Tree?????????
— ??????? ☆✧♡ (@estusreputation) November 21, 2023
@brookemonk_♬ Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
@justbri_always #stitch with @Joe Mele #greenscreen #musictiktok #rockingaroundthechristmastree #christmasmusic #musictok #christmas ♬ Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
@yuh.ness like WHAT?!?!? #brendalee #brendaleerockinaround #rockinaroundthechristmastree #christmas #christmasmusic ♬ Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
But at the time she recorded the song, Lee wasn’t exactly a household name, so the song actually didn’t do very well on the charts when it was first released. Lee began to break out as a star a few years later though, and the song eventually debuted on the Billboard charts and made it as high as #14 in 1960.
Its real success, though, came in the 1990s when it was featured in Home Alone. (Everybody remembers the scene, when Kevin tries to make it look like there’s a rockin’ party going on at his house so that the bandits don’t think he’s there by himself). And Lee says she wasn’t even aware that they were going to use her song in the movie:
“Somebody called me and said, ‘Have you seen the movie Home Alone? You ought to, because they’ve got “Rockin’” really featured in it.’ That’s when it really took off with the youngsters. I knew it was special, but you never know what’s going to be a hit — if you did, we’d all have hits every day. It has been a wonderful gift.”
And in 2023, her hit song helped Lee hit another milestone: The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time, 65 years after it was originally released, making Lee the oldest artist to reach #1 on the chart at 79 years old – for a song she recorded when she was only 13.
To be fair, Lee definitely sounded older than she was on the recording. And she still sounds pretty much the same when she sings it today – something she does in every show, whether it’s around Christmas or not:
“It’s funny. I still sing it in every show—winter, summer, spring or fall.”
The post Did You Know Brenda Lee Was Only 13 Years Old When She Recorded “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree?” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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