Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree hits US No 1 – 65 years after release

At 78, Lee becomes oldest person to top US singles chart, beating record held by Louis Armstrong since 1964

Brenda Lee has smashed a series of US chart records as her perennial festive favourite Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, first released in 1958, has finally reached No 1 on the Hot 100.

Written by Johnny Marks, the man behind Christmas favourites such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, the song was recorded when Lee was 13. Initially a flop, it rose to the US Top 20 in 1960 after Lee's pop career had taken off and earned her back-to-back No 1 singles earlier that year.