Originally released in 1958, when its singer was but 14, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” has appeared in many interesting places. From Rankin/Bass holiday specials to the shower of Home Alone’s cheapskate Uncle Frank, Brenda Lee’s immortal holiday hit has endured long enough to reach retirement age. Sadly, like many of us, the song will never retire, but at least it’s finally getting a little recognition. Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s a long time coming. Following in the footsteps of “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which finally hit the top spot last year, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” languished at No. 2 for years, spending a total of nine weeks in second place between 2019 and 2022. While it was charting better than Justin Beiber’s cover of the song, it still had higher to climb. Now the song is the third Christmas song ever to reach No. 1, following the obvious holiday dominator “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “The Chipmunk Song.”
As for why a 65-year-old song can appear on something called the “Hot 100,” in 2012, following the death of Whitney Huston, Billboard changed its rules to allow recurrent songs to enter the top 100. By adding streaming to the mix over the next decade, songs like Carey’s Christmas hit could finally hit No. 1 and so could Lee’s.
Brenda Lee wasn’t the only holiday bop rocketing up the charts. Bobby Helm’s “Jingle Bell Rock” landed at No. 4, Wham!’s “Last Christmas “Last Christmas” hit No. 5, Burl Ives’s “Holly Jolly Christmas” at No. 6, and Andy Williams’s “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” at No. 10.
Lee’s camp seemed especially focused on reaching the top spot this year. The singer spent the last few months hyping her track, releasing a brand new music video for the song, and joining TikTok. It paid off. The song has broken a number of Billboard records, including the longest run to No. 1 and the longest break between No. 1 hits. Ironically, it was Carey’s hit that held the longest run record before Lee. We can only assume Carey is responding to the news with a classic “I don’t know her.”