Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” topped the Billboard Hot 100 a record 63 years after her previous No. 1 hit. (AP, iStock photos/Stars and Stripes illustration)
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, Jan. 6, 2024: ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,’ Brenda Lee
Ubiquity in music is a powerful thing. Case in point: Brenda Lee topping Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2024 with a song that was written more than 65 years ago (and one, it should be noted, that she recorded when she was merely 13 years old). The resurgence also marked a brand new record in popular music — before “Rockin’s” return, Lee’s most recent chart-topper came in 1960, meaning that the singer now holds the mark for longest-ever amount of time between two No. 1 hits at 63 years.
As for the song itself … what’s left to say? If you watched any holiday movie at any point over the last month, chances are you heard it without it even registering. Her chipper, teenage delivery of a line like, “Voices singing let’s be jolly / Deck the halls with boughs of holly” is as synonymous with Christmas as cookies, lights and Santa Claus himself. On top of an upbeat rockabilly track that paved the way for a very specific type of Christmas song in a manner that has never received the recognition it deserves, Lee sounds years beyond her actual age by not just leading the party, but ensuring it’ll continue beyond her performance.
It adds up to a timeless tune that will forever be at the center of the holiday music lexicon. There simply aren’t a lot of songs that could dethrone Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” from the Hot 100’s No. 1 spot around this time of year; Lee’s classic achieved the impossible (four weeks ago, for two weeks; it then dipped to No. 2 before retaking the top spot). That alone is reason enough to celebrate these two minutes and two seconds, no matter the age — and, of course, no matter the ubiquity.
