Sixty-five years after its first release to radio, Brenda Lee’s holiday hit “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time ever.
By hitting the No.1 spot, Lee breaks several records. Many of those records were held by Mariah Carey and “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which Lee beat out for the top spot this week. Lee claims just the third holiday No.1 ever on the Hot 100.
After hearing the news, Lee, a Rock and Roll and Country Music Hall of Fame member, said, “This is amazing! I cannot believe that ‘Rockin” has hit No. 1 65 years after it was released; this is just so special! Thank you to the team at UMG/UMe, who worked so hard to celebrate the song’s anniversary this year. But most importantly, thank you to the fans who keep listening.”
She added, “The song came out when I was a young teenager. And now to know that it has resonated with multiple generations and continues to resonate – it is one of the best gifts I have ever received. Keep on Rockin’ and Merry Christmas!”
Lee and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” now also hold the record for the longest climb to the top of the Hot 100, as the Johnny Marks-written hit was released 65 years ago, when Lee was just 13 years old. Now, at almost 79-years-old, Lee is also the oldest woman to top the Hot 100, surpassing previous record-holders Cher (“Believe,” age 52) and Carey (“All I Want for Christmas is You,” age 53).
This is also Lee’s third No. 1. She now holds the record for the longest gap between an artist’s first and most recent week at No.1 on the Hot 100, as her first No.1 was her single “I’m Sorry” in 1960, 63 years ago.
For the song’s 65th anniversary this year, Lee released the first-ever music video for “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” featuring cameos by country stars Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood.
She also released a new EP, A Rockin’ Christmas with Brenda Lee, featuring “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and other holiday favorites, including “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “A Marshmallow World,” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” reimagined by Filous.
Top Five Country Christmas Songs Of All Time
There are so many country music Christmas songs, both original and classic, that have been done throughout the years. It seems impossible to pick five of the best country Christmas songs ever. Still, we did just that in our list of Top Five Country Christmas songs over the last several decades.
There are too many honorable mentions to mention, but we just loved Taylor Swift’s 2007 “Last Christmas.” Also, there are several Christmas albums Martina McBride has released over the years. Reba also has four Christmas albums already under her belt. Johnny Cash had some fantastic Christmas songs in his career. George Strait, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks also brought the Christmas cheer. Additionally, there’s the amazing Christmas work from Brett Eldredge, who has made a career out of his annual Christmas “Glow” tour. Other artists include Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Kenny Rogers, Lady A, Kacey Musgraves, and even Miranda Lambert’s Pistol Annies.
In 2023, Jon Pardi released a new Christmas album not long after he was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He told us, “I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas record. It just sounded fun! It’s been many years of hearing Christmas music, and being like, ‘I still haven’t made a [Christmas] record!’ Eventually, I was just like, ‘Alright, we’re doing a Christmas record!'”
Kane Brown also released a new Christmas song this year. He released a cover of Elvis Presley’s classic “Blue Christmas.” Elvis’ voice starts off the familiar song, and Kane’s voice comes in on the second verse. Kane told us, “I chose to cover ‘Blue Christmas’ because it was probably one of my favorite Christmas songs. I don’t have a lot. I used to sing it all the time whenever I was first coming up in the music scene, just while I was warming up and just playing around on stage, so when I got asked to do a Christmas song, of course, I’d have picked that one. And to reimagine it with Elvis is amazing.”
While we know everyone will have their own list of country Christmas favorites, we give you our list of the Top Five Country Christmas Songs to date:
With a cameo by her young son Isaiah singing adorably on this classic remake, it is no wonder this has quickly become a holiday favorite and makes his famous mom proud.
Underwood is playing shows and has added Christmas song to her Las Vegas residency which she wraps up next week (12/16).
Carrie told us recently about decorating early for Christmas this year (2023), “There’s nothing sadder than a Christmas tree up with no presents underneath it, so I don’t really think that you want to get your Christmas tree up too early, but this year, I was a little earlier than normal because we had Thanksgiving and then head out to Vegas for my Reflection shows, and I had to get everything up before I left.”
4. Gwen Stefani (Featuring Blake Shelton) - "You Make It Feel Like Christmas"
A wonderful song that puts you right into the holiday spirit. Gwen and Blake do this song beautifully together and seem to have fun with every word they sing.
On the footnote version of the title song’s music video, Stefani said, “The idea of getting to be a part of people’s holidays through music is one of the greatest gifts. Christmas music lives forever.”
She also noted in the video footnotes that the video idea was inspired by the 1960s TV show Bewitched, a show both of them loved as kids. Gwen and Blake co-wrote the song “You Make It Feel Like Christmas.”
3. Brad Paisley - "Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy"
This is an excellent take on the 1960s original Christmas song by country music icon Buck Owens. Brad does this to perfection honoring his late friend. Garth Brooks also covered this song on his first Christmas album, Beyond The Season.
2. Dolly Parton - "Hard Candy Christmas"
Not initially known as or written as a Christmas song, this song comes from the soundtrack of Dolly Parton’s 1982 movie Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. The song has become a classic and has been covered by many after Dolly, including her friend Reba.
1. Brenda Lee - "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
Possibly one of the best holiday songs in any genre; not a year goes by that we don’t spin this record on repeat. In 2023, sixty-five years after its first release to radio, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time ever.
By hitting the No.1 spot, Brenda Lee breaks several records. Many of those records were held by Mariah Carey and “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which Lee beat out for the top spot.
Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s.
Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.
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