The latest Billboard Hot 100 chart is historic: Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” a holiday tune originally released in 1958, is the No. 1 song in the country, 65 years after it was released. 78-year-old Lee learned this news alongside the rest of the world yesterday (December 4), and the emotional moment was captured on video.
A message from Brenda Lee to her Brendanators
Watch the exact moment @UMGNashville CEO Cindy Mabe tells the holiday music icon that “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” reaches No. 1 on this week’s #Hot100, breaking multiple @billboardcharts records along the way.
pic.twitter.com/UrnzXlK28n
— billboard (@billboard) December 4, 2023
In a clip shared by Billboard, Lee (who was only 13 when she recorded her holiday hit) and Universal Music Group Nashville CEO Cindy Mabe reflect on the passion of Lee’s fans before Mabe drops the big news: “Today, we’re No. 1 on the Hot 100 Billboard charts, 65 years later.” Lee quickly wipes a tear from her eye and replies, “No.” Mabe reassures, “You are.” A stunned Lee asks, “Really?” Mabe reiterates, “You are,” and the two hug.
Lee later spoke to Billboard and showed appreciation for her record label, saying, “I’m happy for everybody here that’s worked so hard to make this happen because in today’s world, everything moves so fast and furious. But I’m telling you this: My label has come to bat.”
She also talked about the song’s late writer, Johnny Marks (who also wrote “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” by the way). Lee said, “He was such a gentle soul. He was Jewish and didn’t even believe in Christmas, and all that would come out of him was Christmas music. He told me he was laying on the beach in New York and I guess he took a nap or something and when he woke up, he saw the pine trees were kind of swaying. I said, ‘You got pine trees on the beach in New York?’ He said, ‘Yeah and I thought the pine trees are rocking and he went home and came up with ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.’