Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

, pop, country and

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

, she achieved her first ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' hit aged 12 in 1957 and was given the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite". Some of Lee's most successful songs include " Sweet Nothin's", " I'm Sorry", " I Want to Be Wanted", "

Speak to Me Pretty "Speak to Me Pretty" is a song written by "By" Dunham and Henry Vars and performed by Brenda Lee. The song featured on Lee's 1961 album, '' All the Way''. Not chosen to be a single in the United States, the song was selected by Lee's U.K. reco ...

", "

All Alone Am I "All Alone Am I" is a song from 1962 popularized by the American singer Brenda Lee. The song was originally composed by the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis and recorded in Greek by Tzeni Karezi for the soundtrack of the film ''To nisi ton genneon ...

" and " Losing You". Her festive song " Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", recorded in 1958, topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2023, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the chart and breaking several chart records. Having sold over 100 million records globally, Lee is one of the most successful American artists of the 20th century. Lee was the second woman ever to top the Billboard Hot 100 (after

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

) when her song “I’m Sorry” reached #1 in 1960. Her U.S. success in the 1960s earned her recognition as ''

'' Top Female Artist of the Decade and one of the four artists who charted the most singles, behind

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

. Her accolades include a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, four NARM Awards, three ''NME'' Awards and five Edison Awards. She is the first woman to be inducted into both the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2023, she was named by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as one of the greatest singers of all time.

Early life and education

Brenda Mae Tarpley was born on December 11, 1944 in the charity ward of Grady Hospital in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

to parents Annie Grayce (née Yarbrough; 1921–2006) and Ruben Lindsey Tarpley (1909–1953). She weighed only 4 pounds 11 ounces at birth. Lee attended primary schools wherever her father found work, mainly between Atlanta and Augusta. Her family was poor. Growing up, she shared a bed with her brother and sister in a series of three-room houses without running water. Life centered on her parents finding work, their family and the

Baptist church Baptists are a denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers ( believer's baptism) and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches generally subscribe to the doctrines of ...

, where she began singing solos every Sunday. Lee's father was a farmer's son in Georgia's red-clay belt. Standing 5 ft 7 in (170 cm), he was an excellent left-handed pitcher and played baseball while serving for 11 years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. Her mother came from a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family in Greene County, Georgia. Though her family did not have indoor plumbing until after her father's death, they had a battery-powered table radio that fascinated Brenda as a baby. Both her mother and sister remembered taking her repeatedly to a local candy store before she turned three. One of them would stand her on the counter and she would earn candy or coins for singing.

Career

Child performer

Lee's voice, face and stage presence won her wider attention from a young age. At age five, she won first place at her school's talent show contest, where she sang " Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Her performance received positive reviews, leading her to make regular appearances on local radio and television shows. Her father died in 1953 (when she was 8 years old) in a construction accident and by the time she turned ten, she was the primary breadwinner of her family by singing at events and on local radio and television shows. During that time, she appeared regularly on the country music show ''TV Ranch'' on

WAGA-TV WAGA-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, serving as the market's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains st ...

in Atlanta but she was so short, the host would lower a stand microphone as low as it would go and stand her up on a wooden crate to reach it. In 1955, Grayce Tarpley married Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who moved the family to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, where he worked at the Jimmie Skinner Music Center. Lee performed with Skinner at the record store on two Saturday programs broadcast over Newport, Kentucky, radio station WNOP. The family soon returned to Georgia but this time to Augusta and Lee appeared on the show ''The Peach Blossom Special'' on WJAT-AM in Swainsboro.

National exposure and stardom

Lee's breakthrough came in February 1955, when she turned down $30 ($334 in 2022 value) to appear on a Swainsboro radio station in order to see

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

and a touring promotional unit of his ABC-TV program '' Ozark Jubilee'' in Augusta. An Augusta

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

persuaded Foley to hear her sing before the show. Foley did and agreed to let her perform " Jambalaya" on stage that night, unrehearsed. Foley later recounted the moments following her introduction: On March 31, 1955, the 10-year-old made her network debut on ''Ozark Jubilee'' in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. Although her five-year contract with the show was broken by a 1957 lawsuit brought by her mother and her manager, she nevertheless made regular appearances on the program throughout its run. Less than two months later, on July 30, 1956,

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

offered her a contract, and her first record was "Jambalaya", backed with "Bigelow 6-200". Lee's second single featured two novelty Christmas tunes: "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus", and "Christy Christmas". Though she turned 12 on December 11, 1956, both of the first two Decca singles credited her as "Little Brenda Lee (9 Years Old)". Neither of the 1956 releases charted, but her first issue in 1957, " One Step at a Time", written by Hugh Ashley, became a hit in both the pop and country fields. Her next hit, "Dynamite", coming out of a 4-foot 9-inch frame, led to her lifelong nickname, Little Miss Dynamite. Lee first attracted attention performing in country music venues and shows; however, her label and management felt it best to market her exclusively as a pop artist, the result being that none of her best-known recordings from the 1960s were released to country radio, and despite her country sound, with top Nashville session people, she did not have another country hit until 1969 with " Johnny One Time".

Biggest successes: 1958–1966

Lee achieved her biggest success on the pop charts in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s with

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

-styled songs. Her biggest hits included "Jambalaya", " Sweet Nothin's" (No. 4, written by country musician Ronnie Self), "I Want to Be Wanted" (No. 1), "

" (No. 3) and " Fool #1" (No. 3). She had more hits with the more pop-based songs " That's All You Gotta Do" (No. 6), "

Emotions Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

" (No. 7), " You Can Depend on Me" (No. 6), "

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Author ...

" (No. 4), 1962's " Break It to Me Gently" (No. 2), " Everybody Loves Me But You" (No. 6), and " As Usual" (No. 12). Lee's total of nine consecutive top 10 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits from "That's All You Gotta Do" in 1960 through "All Alone Am I" in 1962 set a record for a female solo artist that was not equaled until 1986 by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. In 1958, when Lee was 13, producer

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician, bandleader and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was a chief architect of the 1950s and 60s Nashville sou ...

asked her to record a new song by Johnny Marks, who had had success writing Christmas tunes for country singers, most notably " Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

) and " A Holly Jolly Christmas" (

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

). Lee recorded the song " Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in July with a prominent twanging guitar part by

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (November 11, 1930 – December 27, 2004), known professionally as Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and release ...

and raucous sax soloing by Nashville icon

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician. His 1963 saxophone hit " Yakety Sax" became the signature tune of ''The Benny Hill Show''. Randolph was a prolific session musician and member of the Nas ...

. Decca released it as a single that November, but it sold only 5,000 copies, and did not do much better when it was released again in 1959. However, over subsequent years, it eventually sold more than five million copies. Since 2017, the song has appeared at the end of each year on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, having spent (as of December 9, 2023) 54 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at number 1 in 2023. In 1960, Lee recorded her

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

, " I'm Sorry". However, the record initially was withheld for months before its release due to concern that the 15-year-old Lee would not understand what she was singing about in the love song. The song became one of the biggest hits of 1960, reaching the #1 chart position in the U.S. and #12 in the U.K. It was her first gold single and was nominated for a

. Even though it was not released as a country song, it was among the first big hits to use what was to become the Nashville sound – a string orchestra and legato harmonized background vocals. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was finally noticed in its third release a few months later, and sales snowballed; the song remains a perennial favorite each December and is the record with which she is most identified by contemporary audiences. Her last top-ten single on the pop charts in the United States (besides the reappearance each November–December since 2017 of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree") was 1963's " Losing You" (No. 6). In 1964, " As Usual" reached No. 12 in the US and No. 5 in the UK and " Coming on Strong" peaked at No. 11 in the US. Also in 1964, " Is It True" peaked at No. 17 in both the US and the UK. Featuring Big Jim Sullivan (guitar),

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

(guitar), and Bobby Graham (drums), it was her only hit single recorded in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, and was produced by

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Racey and t ...

. The slide guitar and background singers were overdubbed in Nashville. It was recorded at Decca Records' number two studio at their West Hampstead complex, as was the UK B-side, a version of Ray Charles' 1959 classic cut, " What'd I Say?" which was not released in North America. "Is It True" was composed by noted British songwriting team Ken Lewis and John Carter, who were also members of UK hitmakers the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

International fame

Lee was popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from early in her career. She performed on British television in 1959, before she had achieved much pop recognition in the United States. Her first hit single in the United Kingdom was " Sweet Nothin's", which peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart in the spring of 1960. She subsequently had a UK hit (in 1961) with " Let's Jump the Broomstick", a rockabilly number recorded in 1959, which had not charted in the United States, but reached No. 12 in the UK. Lee had two top ten hits in the UK that were not released as singles in her native country: the first, "

" peaked at No. 3 in May 1962 and was her greatest hit in the UK by chart placing, swiftly followed by " Here Comes That Feeling", which reached No. 5 in the summer of 1962. The latter was issued as the B-side to " Everybody Loves Me But You" in the United States (which peaked at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100); however, "Here Comes That Feeling" also made an appearance in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at No. 89, despite its B-side status in the US. In 1962, while touring

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, Lee appeared at the

Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, with the Beatles as the opening act. Lee also had big hits in the UK with "

" (No. 7 in 1963) and " As Usual" (No. 5 in 1964). Lee first visited the United Kingdom for three days in April 1959 as a last-minute replacement on '' Oh Boy!''. She first toured the UK in March and April 1962 with Gene Vincent and Sounds Incorporated (as her backing group), and she toured the country for a second time in March 1963, this time supported by the Bachelors, Sounds Incorporated,

Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...

, and Mike Berry. Lee also toured in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

in 1963 and appeared on the front cover of the Irish dancing and entertainment magazine ''Spotlight'' in April that year. After appearing at the annual

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

before

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

on November 2, 1964, Lee toured the United Kingdom again in November and December 1964, supported by (amongst others)

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, the John Barry Seven,

Wayne Fontana Glyn Geoffrey Ellis (28 October 19456 August 2020),

the Mindbenders The Mindbenders were an English beat group from Manchester. Originally the backing group for Wayne Fontana, they were one of several acts that were successful in the mid-1960s British Invasion of the US charts, achieving major chart hits wi ...

, Marty Wilde,

the Tornados The Tornados were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits in their own right, including ...

and Heinz Burt.

1970–1992

During the early 1970s, Lee re-established herself as a country music artist. In a 1996

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

Sam Lovullo stated that Lee's 1972 appearance on his

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

'' Hee Haw'' had been instrumental to her comeback. Lee earned a string of top ten hits in the United States on the country charts, the first of which was 1973's " Nobody Wins", which reached the top five that spring and became her last Top 100 pop hit, peaking at No. 70. The follow-up, the Mark James composition " Sunday Sunrise", reached No. 6 on ''

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

'' Hot Country Singles chart that October. Other major hits included " Wrong Ideas" and " Big Four Poster Bed" (1974); and "Rock on Baby" and " He's My Rock" (both 1975). After a few years of lesser hits, Lee began another run at the top ten with 1979's " Tell Me What It's Like". Two follow-ups also reached the Top 10 in 1980: " The Cowgirl and the Dandy" and " Broken Trust" (the latter featuring vocal backing by the Oak Ridge Boys). A 1982 album, '' The Winning Hand'', featuring Lee along with

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, was a surprise hit, reaching the top ten on the U.S. country albums chart. Her last well-known hit was 1984's " Hallelujah, I Love Her So" in duet with

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

(Lee sang this song individually before and released it in 1960 on '' This Is...Brenda''). In 1992, Lee recorded a duet ("You'll Never Know") with Willy DeVille on his album '' Loup Garou''.

2000–2016: Autobiography and Country Music Hall of Fame

Lee's autobiography, ''Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee'', was published by Hyperion in 2002 (). Lee's most recent album release was a gospel collection in 2007. She no longer tours and rarely performs. Since the millennium, she has been involved with her work for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. On October 4, 2000, Lee inducted fellow country music legends Faron Young and

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

into the

. Lee is often called upon to announce the annual inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame and then officially present them with their membership medallions at a special ceremony every year. The most recent inductees announced by Lee were Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels and Fred Foster in 2016.

2019–present: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" 65th anniversary

Since ''Billboard'' modified its recurrent rules in 2012, Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" has regularly returned to the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 since 2015. On the Hot 100 chart dated December 21, 2019, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" reached a new peak of #3 in the United States with 37.1 million streams and 5,000 digital sales sold. The following week it moved up to #2, where it remained for a second week. From 2019 to 2022, the song has re-peaked at #2, blocked from the top position by

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

's " All I Want for Christmas Is You". In November 2023, to celebrate the song's 65th anniversary, Lee released a music video featuring her lip-synching to the original recording at a house party with Tanya Tucker and

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

. Lee has also joined social media platform

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

to promote the song, where she posts videos reminiscing about her song's history and success. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated December 9, 2023, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" topped the Hot 100 for the first time in the United States becoming Lee's third #1 hit and first since her 1960 single, " I Want to Be Wanted". At 78, Lee became the oldest female artist and oldest artist overall to top the Hot 100, feats formerly held by

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, respectively. The week following, she held the number one spot, which also meant she surpassed her own age record, having turned 79 during the week ending December 16, 2023. Following two few weeks off number one, on the week ending January 6, 2024, she returned to number one for an additional week. A Lee approved AI-generated Spanish language version "Noche Buena y Navidad" appeared on October 25, 2024. In December 2024,

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

revealed that "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is among the Top 10 most streamed holiday songs of all time, reaching more than a billion downloads. The

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

also certified "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" that month for 7× Platinum for US sales of 7 million copies of the digital single. Also in December 2024, Lee was honored at the Tennessee State Capitol, where the song was named the Official Holiday Song of Tennessee. Legislation recognizing the song in this way was filed by Tennessee House of Representative member Jason Powell in December 2023. It passed the state legislature and was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee.

Legacy and recognition

On September 26, 1986, Lee was installed in the Atlanta Music Hall of Fame 5th Annual Awards Ceremony held at the Raddison Inn,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. She was named among many other recording artists including: Riley Puckett, Gid Tanner, Dan Hornsby, Clayton McMichen and Boots Woodall. Lee reached the final ballot for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and 2001 without success but was finally voted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. Celebrating over 50 years as a recording artist, in September 2006 she was the second recipient of the Jo Meador-Walker Lifetime Achievement award by the Source Foundation in Nashville. In 1997, she was inducted into the

and is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. In 2008, her recording of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" marked 50 years as a holiday standard, and in February 2009 the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

gave Lee a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. In 2023, ''

'' ranked Lee at number 161 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Grammy Awards

The

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

is an accolade by the

(NARAS) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. It shares recognition of the music industry as that of the other performance arts:

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s (television), the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s (stage performance), and the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

s (motion pictures).

Personal life

Lee met Charles Ronald "Ronnie" Shacklett in November 1962 at a concert by

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

and Jackie Wilson hosted at Nashville's Fairgrounds Coliseum. They married less than six months later on April 24, 1963. Lee and Shacklett have two daughters and three grandchildren. Lee is the cousin-by-marriage (by way of her mother's second marriage) to singer Dave Rainwater from The New Christy Minstrels.

Discography

Notes

References

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External links

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Brenda Lee receiving Spotify award, December 2024

Brenda Lee recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Brenda American country singer-songwriters American rock singers 1944 births Living people Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Country Music Hall of Fame inductees American women country singers American women pop singers American rockabilly musicians American women rock singers Decca Records artists MCA Records artists Charly Records artists Sony Music Publishing artists Singers from Atlanta United States Army soldiers Women in the United States Army 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Child rock musicians American child pop musicians Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)