NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Expect to hear plenty of Brenda Lee's classic holiday song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," this year across Tennessee. Lawmakers made it the state's official holiday song.
Democratic Representative Jason Powell filed the bill to make it the state's official holiday song last December. At the time, the song had topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart — 65 years after it was released. After passing the legislature, it was signed by Governor Bill Lee in April.
Lawmakers said the song stayed at No. 1 for three weeks, making Brenda Lee the oldest woman singer to ever hit No. 1 on the chart. She is a longtime Nashvillian and has sold around 100 million records across the world.
She was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was recorded when she was around 13 years old, in 1958. It was written by Johnny Marks and was recorded in Nashville's Music Row, according to a release from lawmakers.
A ceremony is scheduled on Dec. 2 at the State Capitol to commemorate her and the state's new holiday song.