Brenda Lee Has Billboard's Hot 100 Number One Song

Billboard;s Top Story

Brenda Lee dances merrily to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with her holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The song rewrites multiple records as it tops the chart for the first time – 65 years after its release. Lee, meanwhile, adds her third No. 1 – and her first since 1960.

Plus, four other carols return to the Hot 100’s top 10: Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” up from No. 12 to No. 4; Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (13-5); Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (16-6); and Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (28-10).

Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” on Decca/MCA Nashville/UMe, becomes the 1,161st No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 65-year archives. Below, let’s unwrap the coronation of the song, whose history dates back just as long.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations.