Brenda Lee has been celebrating the renewed success of her holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Her latest promotion for her first ever No.1 came in the form of an exclusive interview with People Magazine.
In the conversation, Lee recalled where she was when the song landed at No.1. She said, “Oh, good lord. It was so surreal! I still don’t believe it. Even though I know the song is great and written by a great man, after all these years it’s just surreal.”
Brenda also shared some thoughts on how the music video came together, explaining her relationship with two of the visual’s stars, Trisha Yearwood and Tanya Tucker. “They‘re two of my best friends. We asked them to do that and said, ‘Okay, we’re turning the cameras on. Y’all do what you wanna do!’ There was no script and no direction, but I guess it turned out okay.”
Lee also offered insight on her relationship with another country legend, Dolly Parton. “Dolly and I, we talk a lot,” she said. “I tell you what — she’s great. I’ve known Dolly since we were both 17 or 18 years old. We go back a long, long way. Her husband and my husband went to school together. It’s a good relationship.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Lee shared a recent experience on a flight in which she actually stood up and performed her iconic Christmas tune. “We had a lot of turbulence on that flight, and everybody was really nervous,” she explained. “Somebody said, ‘Brenda, get up and sing ‘Rockin’!’ Before I’d even thought about it, I was up singing. I don’t like flying, but that was a fun time for me.”
Lastly, Lee also discussed the consistent success of “Rockin’.” She said, “I knew it was a great song and I was happy to get it, but I never thought that it would be my signature song. Never.”
Buy or stream A Rockin’ Christmas with Brenda Lee.