Brenda Lee’s name may not be as recognizable as some of the other music stars from the 1960s but when you think of Christmas, you’ll know her song, and start humming her catchy tune, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
When Lee, now 78, first hit the stage, she wasn’t old enough to drive but her powerful vocals steered her “unprecedented international popularity” as the most successful female artist of the 1960s.
Lee, whose voice defied her diminutive stature at only 4 foot 9, became a fan favorite when she was only 12.
Brenda May Tarpley, born in 1944, got her start in the late 1940s, became huge in the 1950s, and over her career–that started before she left elementary school–she topped the charts 55 times, earning the title as the most successful female recording artist of the 1960s.
When Lee was only eight (according to Rolling Stone), her father, a construction worker, was killed at work and little Brenda–who then changed her last name to Lee–became the family’s primary provider.
Taking care of her younger brother, big sister, and mother–a cotton mill worker–was not a duty, but something she wanted to do. She said that she was thrilled when she made her first $20, so she could help her family: “Even at that young age, I saw that helped our life,” Lee said, adding “It put some food on the table. It helped, and I loved it.”
The Atlanta-born chanteuse, called a “pioneer of early rock and roll,” by the Georgia Encyclopedia, achieved “unprecedented international popularity in the 1960s.”
But, an incredibly humble human, Lee credits those who helped her achieve her dreams. When Christianity Today asked what she thinks about being a legend, Lee said “I don’t think of myself that way!” She continued, “I’m just a girl who’s been blessed to be doing what I’m doing, and there’s a lot of people who’ve sweated a lot of tears and put a lot of life’s work into me to be able to have my dream. So, if I’m a legend, then they’re legends, too.”
In 1956, the young girl joined country star Red Foley for a show at the Bell Auditorium near her home in Augusta, and she belted out “Jambalaya,” by Hank Williams.
She was then signed to appear on Foley’s Ozark Jubilee, a country music show, where millions of viewers fell in love with the sassy 12-year-old whose talent was developed well beyond her age.
In the same year, Lee signed with Decca Records, and the next year, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and fusing country with rhythm and blues–highlighted by her hiccupping vocals–she recorded early rockabilly classics like “BIGELOW 6-200,” “Little Jonah,” and “Let’s Jump the Broomstick.”
When asked if–when as a young girl–she was nervous performing in front of large crowds, she answered: “No, not really. Nobody ever told me to be nervous. The stage always felt like a hometown to me because I had been in front of people ever since I was 3 years old, singing to people. So it was a very comfortable spot for me.”
In 1957, Lee earned the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite” for her pint-sized powerhouse recording of the song “Dynamite,” and in 1958, fans heard “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree,” a genre and generation-crossing holiday standard, released when she was only 13.
“I knew it was magical,” she told Rolling Stone.
Over the next couple of years, she charted with hits like “Sweet Nuthin’s,” “All Alone Am I,” and “Fool #1.”
Most of her songs, however, contradicted her experience as a young girl. Her mother didn’t let her date and she graduated high school not understanding the heartbreak of young love.
She was only 16 when she said “Love could be so cruel” in the song “I’m Sorry” and only 16 when she said “I want his lips to kiss me” in the song “I Want to be Wanted,” both back-to-back hits when she was still in school.
And when she turned 18, she met Ronnie Shacklett, whom she’s now been happily married to for 60 years.
Life on the road for Lee as a youngster had its difficulties. She celebrated her 12th birthday in Las Vegas and speaking with the Las Vegas Journal, Lee explained her loneliness.
“Of course, I wasn’t even allowed to walk through a casino, I was so young. So I didn’t even know what a casino looked like. They took me into the kitchen, then into the showroom. And then when my show was over, I was brought back out through the kitchen and back up to my room. Children weren’t allowed … in the casino area.” She continued, “There wasn’t anything to do in Vegas for a kid. The most fun I had was on the stage.”
Speaking on what she missed out on as a child, the award-winning Lee said, “Many times, I yearned to be with my friends rather than be out there on the road.”
Turns out she made new friends on the road, like with the music group that opened for her at a 1962 show in Germany. “I hung out with John,” she says effortlessly, speaking of John Lennon. “He was extremely intelligent, very acerbic with his jokes, just a gentle person. When I found out that they later said they were fans of my music, I was just floored.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jon Bon Jovi and his family for their tragic loss
Days before her birthday, Jon Bon Jovi’s mother Carol Bongiovi passed away.
She was dubbed a “force to be reckoned with” by the singer.
JON Three days prior to being eighty-three, Bon Jovi’s mother, Carol Bongiovi, passed away.
Jon, 62, spoke empathetically about Carol following her death on Tuesday at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Jon told PEOPLE, “Our mother was a force to be reckoned with; her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family.”
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“We will miss her terribly.”
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Carol, a former Playboy bunny, founded the fan club for her son’s band.
She met her future husband, John Bongiovi, Sr., after she enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959.
After relocating, they reared their children in Sayreville, New Jersey.
Following that, they relocated to Holmdel, New Jersey, where she lived until her passing.
It was reported that Holmdel Funeral Home will oversee Carol’s private funeral.
Her three children, Jon, Anthony, and Matthew, as well as her 63-year-old husband, will miss her.
Jon has previously stated that when he was a child and desired to be a musician, his parents provided him with “incredible support.”
In November 2020, he said, “Even if you weren’t good at your craft, you could work on it if you thought you were,” to The Big Issue.
“As I grew older, I realized how wonderful my parents’ gift to me was.
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“They genuinely believed John F. Kennedy was directing them to travel to the moon.” “You can go to the moon, of course.” Just go, John. I visited that place.
The performer told about how his parents used to take him to concerts when he was seventeen.
When Jon was seventeen, his parents allowed him to perform at events, which allowed him to pursue his aspirations.
“They were always there for me, which was amazing looking back,” he remarked.
“Because I could have to be at school at eight o’clock and get home at one or two in the morning.”
“They just told me to go to school on time, you know that’s my responsibility, but follow your dreams.”
The girl Jon fell in love with in high school, Dorothea Hurley, is the wife he married.
Together, they are parents to three sons, Jesse, Jake, and Romeo, and a thirty-one-year-old daughter, Stephanie.
Model Jake wed Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown in a tiny, private ceremony in May 2024, according to the first story from The Sun.
The parents of Millie and Jon attended the little wedding.
He expressed his excitement for the wedding to The Sun the week prior.
“My grandchildren will have more English ancestry than Italian or any other heritage I may have” That must be absurd, right? The musician screamed.
“Your kids are married and talking to you about having grandchildren all of a sudden? Wow!” In my book, this is the longest chapter.
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