Brenda Mae Tarpley, known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first Billboard hit aged 12 in 1957 and was given the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite". Some of Lee's most successful songs include "Sweet Nothin's", "I'm Sorry", "I Want to Be Wanted", "Speak to Me Pretty", "All Alone Am I" and "Losing You". Her festive song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", recorded in 1958, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the chart and breaking several chart records.
Lee presented with a Gold record for "I'm Sorry", cover of Cash Box, August 27, 1960
Billboard ad for "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", November 21, 1960
Brenda Lee at the Granada, Sutton, April 1962
Lee in 1977
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
Classic instruments associated with rockabilly are a hollow-body guitar, an upright bass, and a pared-down drum kit
Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for Jailhouse Rock in 1957
Bill Haley and His Comets during a TV appearance.
Teddy & The Tigers, a Finnish rockabilly band from Kerava, pictured in Helsinki, 1978