Mariah Carey sent flowers to Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree singer Brenda Lee to congratulate her on her ‘historic’ triumph.
Lee was just 13 years old back in 1958 when she first recorded the number, which has been a seasonal staple ever since.
Sixty-five years later, the song finally climbed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 this month – making Lee, 78, the oldest artist ever to top that chart.
Now Carey, who is herself a dominant presence during the festive season because of her song All I Want For Christmas Is You, has offered a show of graciousness.
Firing up her Insta Stories on Thursday, Lee showed off a bouquet she received from Carey with a note offering her kudos.
Mariah Carey (festive) sent flowers to Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree singer Brenda Lee to congratulate her on her ‘historic’ triumph
Lee was just 13 years old back in 1958 when she first recorded the number, which has been a seasonal staple ever since
‘Dear Ms. Brenda,’ Carey, 54, wrote to the older singer: ‘Congratulations on your historic #1. Have a merry Christmas. Love, Mariah.’
Lee was equally courteous, playing All I Want For Christmas Is You over the Insta Story where she thanked Mariah for the flower and the card.
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree has music and lyrics by Johnny Marks, the writer who also gave the world Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Holly Jolly Christmas, as well as some lesser-known holiday fare like Silver And Gold.
Lee first became a singing star at the age of 12 in 1957, one year before she recorded Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.
She has enjoyed thunderous success in the following years, particularly in the 1960s, and has to date sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Her version of Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree has now become the record with the widest gap between its release and its arrival at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Meanwhile, it emerged a month ago that Carey is being sued yet again by two writers who claim her 1994 classic is a ripoff of their 1989 song of the same name.
In a legal filing cited by TMZ, plaintiffs Troy Powers and Andy Stone alleged that Carey’s song is similar to their own both musically and lyrically.
Firing up her Insta Stories on Thursday, Lee showed off a bouquet she received from Carey with a note offering her kudos
Stone sued Carey by himself last year for $20 million on the grounds her song was ‘derivative’ of his – but then he filed to dismiss the suit that November.
Now, however, he has teamed up with Powers and came roaring back, with the pair of them jointly suing Carey for $20 million.
They allege that there are meaningful commonalities between the melody and lyrical hook of the two songs, as well as the general sentiment conveyed by both of them.
In their court documents, they accuse Carey of having ‘palmed off these works with her incredulous origin story, as if those works were her own.’
Carey wrote in her memoir that she ‘actually did bang out most of the song on a cheap little Casio keyboard. But it’s the feeling I wanted the song to capture. There’s a sweetness, a clarity, and a purity to it.’
Stone co-wrote his version of the number for his novelty group Vince Vance And The Valiants, in which he plays the character of Vince Vance.
Their country-tinged ballad bowed in 1989 and then was re-released in late 1993, reaching the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in early 1994.
A few months later, in October 1994, Carey released her own song All I Want For Christmas Is You – and became a global juggernaut.
Lee is pictured in a new music video for Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, which has now made her the oldest artist to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100
In October 1994, Carey released her own song All I Want For Christmas Is You – and saw it become a global juggernaut that is a seasonal standard
The single gets replayed so much every holiday season that The Economist once reported Carey earns $2.5 million annually from that one track.
When Stone filed his original solo lawsuit against Careyx, last June, he pointed out that his song had hit the charts in the winter before Carey released hers.
He accused her, her co-writer Walter Afanasieff and Sony Music Entertainment of using his ‘popularity’ and ‘style’ to snatch ‘undeserved profits’ for themselves.
However she was able to breathe a sigh of relief in November 2022 when Stone filed to dismiss his suit, according to court documents seen by Rolling Stone.
Last year, Carey referred to songwriters as ‘unsung heroes’ while she herself was being inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
‘But I just wanted to say that, like, I constantly have to remind people I’m a songwriter,’ said the world-famous singer.
‘It’s become a joke to the point where – because they’re all into the diva thing. It’s like: “Oh my God, she’s a diva, wow, a diva!” Whatever.’
