Songfacts®:

• This holiday classic about a yuletide dance party was written by Johnny Marks, a very prolific Christmas songwriter who was Jewish. His other songs include "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."
• "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" has lyrics that are rather dated, but that hasn't dulled the appeal of the song. It takes place at the "Christmas party hop," a festive "sock hop" where teenagers would take off their shoes and dance. Sock hops were big in the '50s, and in 1957 Danny & the Juniors had a huge hit with "At The Hop." The song also evokes quaint traditions like caroling and mistletoe, but it all comes off in a good old-fashioned way.
• Brenda Lee was just 13 years old when she recorded this song. Known as "Little Miss Dynamite," she stood 4'9".
  
  "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" wasn't Lee's first Christmas single. Back in 1956 she recorded two novelty festive tunes: "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus," and "Christy Christmas" as "Little Brenda Lee."
• First released in 1958, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" didn't dent the charts that year or the next, but in 1960, after Brenda Lee scored a few hits, it caught on and went to #14 in the US. It charted again in 1961 and 1962 and went on to become a Christmas classic.
• The song was recorded in Nashville in October 1958, so there was no chance of snow or even much of a chill. To get Brenda Lee in the spirit, her producer, Owen Bradley, did his best to simulate the Christmas season in the studio. "Owen had the studio all freezing cold with the air conditioning, and he had a Christmas tree all set up to kind of get in the mood just a little bit," Lee said in a 2006 interview with the Chicago Tribune. "We had a lot of fun."
• A 1987 recording by Kim Wilde and Mel Smith featuring Pete Thomas hit #3 in the UK. Their version was recorded for the BBC Comic Relief charity. Other artists to cover the song include Cyndi Lauper, LeAnn Rimes, Toby Keith, Miley Cyrus, Alabama, and Aly & AJ.
• When Brenda Lee asked Johnny Marks how he came up with the idea of the song, he told her it came from watching pine trees sway in the wind on a New York beach.
  
  "Well, I was laying on the beach and I went to sleep," he recalled to Lee. "I woke up and the pine trees were kind of swaying in the breeze. All of a sudden, I thought about Christmas, and I watched them begin and they were kind of rockin' and I thought about rockin'. I just thought about a rockin' Christmas, and then I changed it to where people might want to rock around the Christmas tree.' And that's kind of how it was born."
• In 2014, NPR asked Brenda Lee what the correct direction was to rock around the Christmas tree. Her response: South.
• Although it's not included on the movie's soundtrack, the song features prominently in Home Alone (1990) when Kevin stages a fake Christmas party to fool the burglars who plan to rob his house. It's been used in more made-for-TV holiday movies than we can count, and also shows up in these films:
  
  Last Christmas (2019)
  This Christmas (2007)
  Miracle (2004)
  Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
  Reindeer Games (2000)
  Enemy of the State (1998)
  Jingle All the Way (1996)
  The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
  
  And in these TV shows:
  
  American Dad! ("Yule. Tide. Repeat." - 2020)
  It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ("Charlie's Home Alone" - 2018)
  Family Guy (TV Series) ("Crimes and Meg's Demeanor" - 2017, "Road to the North Pole" - 2010)
  American Horror Story ("Unholy Night" - 2012)
  The Simpsons ("Kill Gil, Vol. 1 & 2" - 2006)
  Sabrina the Teenage Witch ("Christmas Amnesia" - 1998)
  King of the Hill ("The Unbearable Blindness of Laying" - 1997)
• "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" shows up in a lot of holiday commercials. Dodge used it in 2011 to promote their year-end sales event, and SiriusXM has used it in promos for their holiday radio channel. In 2018, Google Assistant used it in spots that recalled its use in Home Alone.
• Thanks to streaming, the song entered the Hot 100 Top 10 for the first time on the chart dated January 5, 2019. It was Brenda Lee's first release to reach the upper regions of the tally since "Losing You" peaked at #6 in 1963. This meant that Lee set a new record for the longest period between top 10 hits for any female artist.
• That big honkin' saxophone is by Boots Randolph, best known for "Yakety Sax," the Benny Hill Show theme song. Randolph played on lots of sessions in Nashville; you can also hear him on "Dear Uncle Sam" by Loretta Lynn.
• Justin Bieber released a cover version on November 12, 2020. His version was released exclusively on Amazon Music as parts of its "Delivering Smiles" holiday campaign, which gives to charitable organizations and communities through non-profits. The money from this song is going to LIFT, Inner-City Arts and Alexandria House, three organizations Bieber has supported in the past. Bieber's rendition peaked at #4 in the UK and #61 in the US.
• Tamil-Swiss singer-songwriter Priya Ragu recorded "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" for the soundtrack to the 2022 Amazon Prime Video Christmas rom-com Your Christmas Or Mine?. Her cover peaked at #49 on the UK Singles chart.
• Kelly Clarkson performed this song when she played Lee on the TV series American Dreams in 2004.
• "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" got an official music video for the first time when Brenda Lee posted it on November 3, 2023, the 65th Anniversary of the holiday classic. Country music stars Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood make cameo appearances in the clip, which shows the 78-year-old Lee preparing for her favorite holiday by decorating the Christmas tree and making cookies. Even Santa Claus pays a special visit.
  
  There's no video of Lee performing the song from when it was first released.
• The song jingled its way to the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated December 9, 2023. In doing so, Lee notched up a trio of record-breaking achievements:
  
  1. At the age of 78, Brenda Lee claimed the title of the oldest artist ever to top the chart, outshining Louis Armstrong, who was 62 when "Hello, Dolly!" led in May 1964. Lee also surpassed Cher's record as the oldest female artist to clinch the #1 spot; Cher was 52 when "Believe" ruled the Hot 100 in March 1999.
  
  2. A remarkable 65 years after its initial release, the song secured the top spot, setting a new record for the longest time span for a single to reach #1 on the Hot 100.
  
  3. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" marked Lee's third #1 Hot 100 hit, with her previous triumphs both in 1960: "I'm Sorry" in July and "I Want To Be Wanted" in October. The 63-year, one-month, and two-week gap between "I Want to Be Wanted" hitting #1 and the appearance of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" at the pinnacle broke the record for the longest span between #1s on the US singles chart.
• "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is the third Christmas/holiday song to reach #1 on the Hot 100, following "The Chipmunk Song" by David Seville and The Chipmunks in 1958, and "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey in 2019.