Since its 1958 debut, Brenda Lee‘s yuletide classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” has remained a holiday staple. Originally written by Johnny Marks, who also wrote holiday classics “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” initially peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 two years after its release.
To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the song in 2023, Lee filmed the first official video for the holiday classic, featuring cameos by Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood. The video captured an entirely new audience after hitting TikTok with more than eight million views, and finally went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, along with breaking several chart records in the process.
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[RELATED: Brenda Lee Debuts “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” Video]
“This song has been so special to me,” said Lee in a recent statement. “I never thought it would be my signature song, but I love that it is because it brings so much joy.”
Lee first recorded the song during the summer of 1958 at Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut studio on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee when she was 13 years old. “The producer cut the air way down in the studio,” said Lee. “He had a big Christmas tree and everyone was there—the Anita Kerr Singers and the A-team, as we called them. It was like a little touch of magic kind of sprinkled in, and it turned out to be magic.”
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is the holiday song that keeps on giving. Here’s a look at how Lee’s classic has been reimagined from Jimmy Buffett’s trop-rock to rockabilly, pop, and more throughout the years.
1. Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love (1992)
A follow-up to the A Very Special Christmas compilation series, released in 1987, the second album benefitted the Special Olympics, and featured Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Jon Bon Jovi, Sinéad O’Connor, and more covering a collection of holiday classics.
Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love also took on “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” It was the perfect duet since both already had a long history recording holiday songs, from Spector and the Ronnettes’ hit covers of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “Frosty the Snowman” in the early ’60s, and Love’s 1963 holiday hit “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
2. Amy Grant (1992)
For her second holiday album, Home for Christmas, Amy Grant shared her faithful rendition of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” along with other classics and three originals, which she co-wrote, including “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song),” “Emmanuel, God With Us,” and “Grown Up Christmas List.”
Home for Christmas went to No. 1 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums and Christian charts and No. 2 on the 200.
3. Cyndi Lauper (1998)
Cyndi Lauper wanted more of a calypso feel for her rendition of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” from her 1998 holiday album Merry Christmas…Have a Nice Life. The album is mostly filled with original Christmas songs, co-written by Lauper, including “Feels Like Christmas,” “New Year’s Baby,” “Home on Christmas Day,” “December Child,” and more along with a few classics.
4. Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana (2007)
In 2007, Miley Cyrus opened the Disney Channel Holiday album with her pop-rock version of Lee’s classic, performing as Hannah Montana. The album also features the Jonas Brothers, The Cheetah Girls, Ashley Risdale, Aly & AJ, and more from that late-’00s Disney era singing holiday classics.
5. Brian Setzer Orchestra (2015)
On their third Christmas album, Rockin’ Rudolph, The Brian Setzer Orchestra left their rockabilly mark on the song. Opening on “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Setzer’s album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart.
6. Jimmy Buffett (2016)
‘Tis the SeaSon was Jimmy Buffett‘s second Christmas album, and followed his first, Christmas Island, which was released 20 years earlier. The album features Buffett originals “Drivin’ the Pig (Manejando el Cerdo)” and “Santa Stole Thanksgiving,” along with Mac McAnally-penned “What I Didn’t Get for Christmas,” along with 10 covers of holiday favorites.
7. Kelly Clarkson (2021)
In 2021, Kelly Clarkson had an instant No. 1 on the holiday chart when she released When Christmas Comes Around. Filled with some classic covers of “Jingle Bell Rock,” George Michael‘s “Last Christmas,” “Santa Baby,” and a festively lit version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” along with a collection of original holiday songs co-written by Clarkson.
Photo: CA/Redferns
