Singer Brenda Lee Is Still "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" These Days
"I never dreamed that a Christmas song would be a big part of my legacy.”
Published Dec. 24 2025, 11:02 a.m. ET
You may not recognize her name, but you almost certainly know at least a few songs sung by the legendary Brenda Lee. Some of her biggest hits include "I'm Sorry" and the mega-hit from Christmas, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
She's been such a ubiquitous part of American history, you might assume she had passed long ago.
But if she's past her prime, no one told Brenda. The enthusiastic firecracker of a rockabilly legend is still going strong, and here's what she's up to now.
Here's where rockabilly legend Brenda Lee is now.
Brenda stands just 4'9", and she started singing when she was just 3 years old, according to Historic TV. She came from poverty but lifted her family out of it after strutting onto the stage at age 12 and belting out her very first Billboard hit.
At 81 years old now, she's still going strong.
These days, Brenda has settled down from her wild days of touring and topping the charts with hit after hit. But that doesn't mean she's left the music industry altogether.
In fact, she's still giving interviews and making waves for her influence on music throughout the decades.
In a December 2025 interview with Woman's World, the rockabilly legend reflected on how one Christmas song would change her life forever. She never imagined, 67 years ago, that she would still be talking about the song in her 80s. Brenda mused, "It’s crazy. I think I recorded that when I was 13 and never dreamed that it would become what it has become. I knew it was a good song. … I never dreamed that a Christmas song would be a big part of my legacy.”
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" enjoyed a revival in 2023 when Brenda released the song's first-ever official music video, including her friends Trisha Yearwood and Tanya Tucker in the video alongside the singer herself.
Brenda Lee has been married to her husband for decades.
Since rocketing to superstardom as a young teenager and owning her niche for decades, Brenda has become a Hall of Famer, loved, lost, and ridden the ups and downs.
By her side for 62 years: her husband, Ronnie Shacklett.
In a December 2024 interview with Biscuits & Jam Podcast, she shared the secret to their enduring marriage: “I’m just me, and when I commit, it’s hard to get rid of me, and my husband will tell you that."
She added, "I’m loyal to the ones that are loyal to me, and in this industry, that’s hard because everybody’s so busy, and it’s normal, but they’re so busy just trying to survive what this business offers."
If you see the two of them together, you might be struck by one immediately noticeable feature: their height differences. At 4'9", Brenda is already noticeably shorter than average. But Ronnie is taller than average, standing over 6' tall. The singer jokingly told Biscuits & Jam, "I really liked that part. And he had a Corvette, that pretty much sealed the deal."
They may make an unusual couple, but it has worked for well over 60 years, so that says something.