Although it’s hard to imagine in hindsight, there was a time when Brenda Lee was a bigger rock star than the Beatles. The singer behind the seasonal hit “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” had several chart-topping hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Speak To Me Pretty” and “I’m Sorry.” Lee made history as the second woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 with the latter track (the first woman to break this record being Connie Francis).
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In the 2024 PBS documentary Brenda Lee: Rockin’ Around, the musical icon recalled her time touring Europe in the early ‘60s. Lee’s headlining act had countless openers, one of the most notable being a Liverpudlian quartet who called themselves the Silver Beetles.
Brenda Lee Felt “Magical” Connection To The Beatles
Shortly after Brenda Lee visited England, the Silver Beetles changed their name to the Beatles, and the rest is history. The skiffle-turned-rock band would become one of the most popular acts of all time, changing the sound and style of rock ‘n’ roll forever. But the Beatles didn’t just have an impact on the music industry as a whole. They made just as much of an impression on the people they worked with, and Lee was certainly no exception.
As Lee explained in the PBS documentary Brenda Lee: Rockin’ Around, one Beatle left a greater impression than the rest. “John was my favorite Beatle,” Lee admitted. “I loved them all. But John was, to say the least, irreverent, had a great sense of humor. He was magical. He was a genie in the bottle, and he let me have the cork. John Lennon said I was the first female rocker.”
Lee echoed similar sentiments in a 2018 Rolling Stone interview, remembering Lennon as “extremely intelligent, very acerbic with his jokes, just a gentle person. When I found out that they later said they were fans of my music, I was just floored.” And indeed they were. Lennon went so far as to once say Lee had the “greatest rock and roll voice of them all.”
The American “Queen of Rock and Roll” wasn’t afraid to learn new things from (and lend a helping hand to) her opening act, either. When the future Beatles finished their opening set for Lee, the singer approached them and said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Where do you get those songs?” Lennon replied, “Oh, we write them.” The fact that the band was able to compose their own music amazed Lee, who asked Lennon for a demo she could give to her record label.
A Favorite Amongst Favorites
John Lennon wasn’t the only musical icon who revered Brenda Lee and her mark on the rock and roll genre. Elton John once called her performance style stunning, adding, “I don’t think I had ever heard anything like it. Brenda Lee is in the top three female rock and roll singers of all time. Her, Janis Joplin, and Tina Turner.”
Pop icon Taylor Swift has sung Lee’s praises as well. In a tribute titled “Rare Peer,” Swift wrote, “There’s a reason she’s been able to move people to their feet for almost 60 years. Brenda Lee is grace, Brenda Lee is class and composure, Brenda Lee is someone I will always look up to because of the way she shines. As Johnny Cash said in 1983, it’s almost like she’s golden.”
Indeed, Lee has been a favorite among rock and pop stars for decades, an impressive feat that few musicians can boast. “I’ve always loved to sing for people,” Lee once said. “All I need is an invitation.”
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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