"Run Rudolph Run" is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...

written by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined a ...

but credited to

Johnny Marks John David Marks (November 10, 1909 – September 3, 1985) was an American songwriter. He specialized in Christmas songs (although he himself was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas) and wrote many holiday standards, including " Rudolph the R ...

and M. Brodie due to Marks' trademark on the character of

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

. It was published by St. Nicholas Music (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) and was first recorded by Berry in 1958, released as a single on

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and r ...

. It has since been covered by numerous other artists, sometimes with the title "Run Run Rudolph". The song is a 12-bar blues, musically similar to Berry's very popular and recognizable song "

Johnny B. Goode "Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock song written and first recorded by Chuck Berry. Released as a single, it peaked at number two on ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart. "Johnny B. Goode" is con ...

", and melodically similar to his song " Little Queenie", the latter of which was released shortly after, in 1959.

History

Chuck Berry reported that he wrote the song himself, but then discovered that the name Rudolph was trademarked by Johnny Marks. Marks sued and consequently was given songwriting credit although he "had nothing to do with the song." Berry also said that M. Brodie does not exist, but was a pseudonym created as "a scheme to make more money for Marks and his publisher." Berry's 1958 45-rpm single gives writing credits to "C. Berry Music – M. Brodie". All subsequent cover versions of the song are credited to Marks and Brodie, as published by Marks's ''St. Nicholas Music'' (ASCAP). The song's dialogue between

Santa Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

and the children references popular toys of the 1950s:

Cover versions

This song was covered by singer

Whitney Wolanin Whitney Wolanin (; born June 29, 1990) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Albany, New York, and raised in southwest Florida, she entered the music industry through recording a number of sessions with Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbitt ...

in 2013. Her recording reached the highest chart position of all versions on ''

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 ...

'', reaching number two on its Adult Contemporary chart. Wolanin starred in
parody music film
with the song about the original film ''

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey ...

'' at the

Christmas Story House Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

. It has been covered by other artists including Straight No Chaser, the Ethical Debating Society,

Slaughter & the Dogs Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett McGrath, rhythm guitar Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham, lead guitarist Mi ...

, L.A. Guns, Mojo Nixon,

Emily Osment Emily Jordan Osment (born March 10, 1992) is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti ...

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, Southern Pacific, Sister Hazel,

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single " Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...

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, Hanson,

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

, Click Five,

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Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

(on his first solo single), Brinsley Schwarz,

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

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Paul Brandt Paul Rennée Belobersycky (born July 21, 1972), known professionally as Paul Brandt, is a Canadian country music artist. Growing up in Calgary, he was a pediatric RN at the time of his big break. In 1996, he made his mark on the country music c ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of '' American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her de ...

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, Reverend Horton Heat,

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Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

Cee Lo Green Cee or CEE may refer to: * C, third letter of the Latin alphabet * Cee, Spain, A Coruña, Galicia * Center for Excellence in Education, US * Central and Eastern Europe * Centre for Environment Education * Centre for the Economics of Education, ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Nashville in 2007 ...

, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Joe Perry,

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, the cast of the Broadway musical ''

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'', the Yobs, Vincent Martella (as the character Phineas Flynn, from ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast a ...

''),

the Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses te ...

' band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and a one-off supergroup consisting of

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he w ...

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, and

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for the 2008 album '' We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year''. It was also covered by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry for his 2014 EP '' Joe Perry's Merry Christmas'' by and Sara Evans on her 2014 album ''Sara Evans: At Christmas''.

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American Rock music, rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, ...

released it on their ''

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'' CD release in 2017.

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

and his house band,

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, played the song to close a show in December 2010.

Chart performance

Berry's 1958 recording peaked at number 69 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in December 1958 during its initial chart run. Sixty years later, the single re-entered the Hot 100 chart at number 45 (on the week ending January 5, 2019), reaching an overall peak position of number 10 on the week ending January 2, 2021, following its third chart re-entry, becoming Berry's third top-ten hit and his first since 1972's "

My Ding-a-Ling "My Ding-a-Ling" is a novelty song written and recorded by Dave Bartholomew. It was covered by Chuck Berry in 1972 and became his only number-one Billboard Hot 100 single in the United States. Later that year, in a much, much longer unedited form ...

". In doing so, it broke the record for the longest climb to the top 10 since its first entry in December 1958, at 62 years and two weeks. Berry's original version first made the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on the week ending Christmas Day 1963, peaking at number 36 two weeks later (with the song's title misspelled as "Run Rudolf Run"). In 2013

released a version of the song that reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart. The only other recordings that charted in the U.S. were by the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

artists

, whose 2008 rendition peaked at number 42 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and

Justin Moore Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released six studio albums: his self titled debut in 2009, '' Outlaws ...

, whose 2011 version peaked at number 58 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Chuck Berry

Whitney Wolanin

Luke Bryan

Justin Moore

Certifications

Notes

References

External links

Allmusic Entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

{{Authority control 1958 songs 1958 singles American Christmas songs Chess Records singles Christmas novelty songs Chuck Berry songs Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons songs Luke Bryan songs Justin Moore songs Songs about mammals Songs about fictional male characters Songs about Santa Claus Songs written by Johnny Marks