Bobby Helms (Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images)The 2018 holiday season has seen a variety of old Christmas hits make history on the Billboard Hot 100, and this week was no exception: Three songs that appear in the tally’s top 10 were originally released more than 54 years ago.
Specifically, Bobby Helms‘ “Jingle Bell Rock” from 1957 is #8, Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” from 1958 is #9, and Burl Ives‘ “Holly Jolly Christmas” from 1964 is #10.
Helms’ and Lee’s songs have never broken into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 before. With “Jingle Bell Rock” moving from #13 to #8 this week, Helms, who died in 1997, sets the record for the longest time between a song’s first appearance on the Hot 100 and its ascendance into the top 10: 60 years and two weeks.
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” moved from #11 to #9 this week, and is now Lee’s first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 since 1963. That sets the record for the longest period between top 10 hits for any female artist.
As for Ives, with “Holly Jolly Christmas” rising from #12 to #10 this week, it marks the first time that the late singer has appeared in the Hot 100’s top 10 in 56 years, seven months and two weeks.
That means Ives’ breaks a record set just last week by Andy Williams, whose classic holiday song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” became the late crooner’s first top-10 hit in 47 years, eight months and three months.
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey‘s 1994 holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” moved from #6 to #3 this week. It’s only the second Christmas single ever to reach the top five of the Hot 100, following the 1958 chart-topper “The Chipmunk Song.”
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