Brenda Lee Turns 81 -- Still Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree!
- Kristina Hemel
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Today, December 11th, we celebrate a true holiday legend: Brenda Lee turns 81 years old! And while she’s blowing out candles, the rest of us are cranking up one of the most iconic Christmas songs ever recorded - “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
What makes this story even sweeter is that Brenda Lee was only 13 years old when she stepped into a Nashville studio on October 19, 1958, and recorded the song that would define her career - and help soundtrack Christmas for generations. Her voice from that day never aged, and somehow it still sounds as joyful and mischievous as ever.
But here’s the crazy part:
Even though the song is everywhere now, it wasn’t an instant hit. It slowly grew in popularity over the years, exploding again thanks to Home Alone, and then rewriting music history in the 2020s.
A Record-Breaking Legacy
Brenda Lee’s original version has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, making it one of the bestselling Christmas singles ever. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2019, and she didn’t stop there.
In 2023 -- 65 years after its release -- “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Brenda Lee:
the oldest artist ever to top the chart (first at age 78, then breaking her own record again at 79),
the holder of the longest wait between a song’s release and hitting #1,
and the artist with the longest gap between No. 1 hits (63 years!).
Talk about Christmas magic.
And she’s still having fun — Brenda even released a brand-new music video for the song in November 2023, showing that she’s not done rockin’ just yet.
Hear It All Season Long on NWKS Radio
This holiday staple is spinning across all our NWKS Radio stations throughout the season. Whether you’re deckin’ the halls, baking cookies, or taking a snowy drive across Northwest Kansas, Brenda Lee will be right there with you.
Happy 81st Birthday, Brenda Lee — and thanks for keeping us rockin' around the Christmas tree for 65 unforgettable years! 🎄🎶