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The First No. 1 Single Of 2024 Is… A Christmas Song From 1958, Of Course

Brenda Lee 1960
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Every week, Billboard unveils the top 10 songs on the latest Hot 100 chart. The most recent rankings, for the chart dated January 6, are out now, so let’s run down who had this week’s biggest hits.

10. The Ronettes — “Sleigh Ride”

The new chart covers the tracking week from December 22 to 28, and the chart that represents Christmas and Christmas Eve tends to be the most holiday-focused of the year. That’s certainly the case this week, as the only non-holiday song in the top 10 is…

9. Jack Harlow — “Lovin On Me”

Throughout the holiday onslaught, Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” has been the consistent non-Christmas beacon hanging on in the top 10, and it managed to stick around at No. 9 this week.

8. José Feliciano — “Feliz Navidad”

Feliciano’s 1970 favorite peaked at No. 6 during the 2020 holiday season, but its 2023/2024 high has fallen a bit short of that.

7. Dean Martin — “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!”

This is a new all-time peak for Martin’s rendition of “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!,” as last week’s placement at No. 8 matched its previous high.

6. Andy Williams — “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”

Williams now has the all-time record for the span between his first and latest week in the top 10 at 64 years and three months, as “Lonely Street” was first in the region in October 1959.

5. Burl Ives — “A Holly Jolly Christmas”

Spots No. 5 through 3 are the same this week as they were last time, starting with Ives’ holiday mainstay.

4. Wham! — “Last Christmas”

Wham! holds strong at No. 4, and this comes after “Last Christmas” become the Christmas No. 1 single in the UK for the first time ever.

3. Bobby Helms — “Jingle Bell Rock”

Helms hasn’t yet been able to crack the top 2 with his holiday hit, as two titans keep getting in his way.

2. Mariah Carey — “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

It’s usually the case that Carey has the first and final No. 1 single of the year as “All I Want For Christmas Is You” holds onto the top spot as the calendar rolls over, but not this time.

1. Brenda Lee — “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”

Carey was No. 1 last week, but after previously spending a couple weeks at No. 1 recently and falling down to No. 2, 1958’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is back on top, making it the first No. 1 single of 2024.

Why did Lee and Carey swap spots? It looks like Lee’s song had more momentum than Carey’s. The two tracks had similar numbers in terms of airplay and sales, but “Rockin’ racked up 57.3 million streams (a 16-percent increase) vs. “All I Want” getting 54.8 million (up 13 percent). Carey’s airplay and sales numbers were actually both higher than Lee’s, but Carey had a bigger drop-off in airplay from last week to this one.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.