Brenda Mae Tarpley - Genealogy Genealogy Join the world's largest family tree Gender Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love Build your family tree online Share photos and videos Sister of <private> (Tarpley); <private> (Tarpley) and <private> Tarpley Managed by: Hacklett Lee Brenda Possible relatives: Charles Lee, Charles Schacklett, Julie Shacklett, Ronnie Shacklett, Charles Ronald Shacklett, Ronnie Shacklett, Jolie Shacklett Snider Residences: 1959 - Rio De Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Parents: Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis. She is best known for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a US holiday standard for more than 50 years.

At 4 ft 9 inches tall, she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite"; and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music, Rockabilly and Hit Parade Halls of Fame. Lee currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Early years Lee was born Brenda Mae Tarpley in the charity ward of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. She weighed 4 pounds 11 ounces at birth. She attended grade schools wherever her father found work, primarily in the corridor between Atlanta and Augusta. Her family was poor, living hand-to-mouth; she shared a bed with her two siblings in a series of three-room houses without running water. Life centered on her parents finding work, their extended family, and the Baptist Church, where she sang solos every Sunday.

Lee's father, Ruben Tarpley, was the son of a farmer in Georgia's red-clay belt. Although he stood only 5 ft 7 inches, he was an excellent left-handed pitcher and spent 11 years in the U.S. Army playing baseball. Her mother, Annie Grayce Yarbrough, had a similar background of an uneducated working class family in Greene County, Georgia. Lee was a musical prodigy. Although her family did not have indoor plumbing until after her father's death, they had a battery-powered table radio that fascinated Brenda as a baby. By the time she was two, she could whistle the melody of songs she heard on the radio. Both her mother and sister remembered taking her repeatedly to a local candy store before she turned three; one of them would stand her on the counter and she would earn candy or coins for singing. Child performer Lee's voice, pretty face and stage presence won her wider attention from the time she was five years old. At age six, she won a local singing contest sponsored by local elementary schools. The reward was a live appearance on an Atlanta radio show, Starmakers Revue, where she performed for the next year.

Her father died in 1953, and by the time she turned ten, she was the primary breadwinner of her family through singing at events and on local radio and television shows. In 1955, Grayce Tarpley was remarried to Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who moved the family to Cincinnati, Ohio where he worked at the Jimmy Skinner Music Center. Lee performed with Skinner at the record shop on two Saturday programs broadcast over Newport, Kentucky radio station WNOP-AM. The family soon returned to Georgia, however, this time to Augusta, and Lee appeared on the show The Peach Blossom Special on WJAT-AM in Swainsboro. National exposure and stardom Her break into big-time show business came in February 1955, when she turned down $30 to appear on a Swainsboro radio station to see Red Foley and a touring promotional unit of his ABC-TV program Ozark Jubilee in Augusta. An Augusta DJ persuaded Foley to hear her sing before the show. Foley was as transfixed as everyone else who heard the huge voice coming from the tiny girl and immediately agreed to let her perform "Jambalaya" on stage that night, unrehearsed.

Foley later recounted the moments following her introduction: “ I still get cold chills thinking about the first time I heard that voice. One foot started patting rhythm as though she was stomping out a prairie fire but not another muscle in that little body even as much as twitched. And when she did that trick of breaking her voice, it jarred me out of my trance enough to realize I'd forgotten to get off the stage. There I stood, after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front of an audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes. ” The audience erupted in applause and refused to let her leave the stage until she had sung three more songs. On March 31, 1955, the 10-year-old made her network debut on Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri. Although her five-year contract with the show was broken by a 1957 lawsuit brought by her mother and her manager, she made regular appearances on the program throughout its run.

Less than two months later—on July 30, 1956—Decca Records offered her a contract, and her first record was "Jambayala" backed with "Bigelow 6–200". Lee's second single would feature two novelty Christmas tunes: "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus", and "Christy Christmas". Though she turned 12 on December 11, 1956, both of the first two Decca singles credit her as "Little Brenda Lee (9 Years Old)." Neither of the 1956 releases charted, but her first issue in '57, "One Step at a Time", became a hit in both the pop and country fields. Her next hit, "Dynamite", coming out of a 4 ft 9 inch frame, led to her lifelong nickname, Little Miss Dynamite.

Lee first attracted attention performing in country music venues and shows; however, her label and management felt it best to market her exclusively as a pop artist, the result being that none of her best-known recordings from the 1960s were released to country radio, and despite her country sound, with top Nashville session people, she did not have another country hit until 1969, and "Johnny One Time". Biggest hits: 1958–1965 Lee achieved her biggest success on the pop charts in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s with rockabilly and rock and roll-styled songs. Her biggest hits included "Jambalaya", "Sweet Nothin's" (No. 4, written by country musician Ronnie Self), "I Want to Be Wanted" (No. 1), "All Alone Am I" (No. 3) and "Fool #1" (No. 3). She had more hits with the more pop-based songs "That's All You Gotta Do" (No. 6), "Emotions" (No. 7), "You Can Depend on Me" (No. 6), "Dum Dum" (No.

4), 1962's "Break It to Me Gently" (No. 2), "Everybody Loves Me But You" (No. 6), and "As Usual" (No. 12). Lee's total of nine consecutive top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits from "That's All You Gotta Do" in 1960 through "All Alone Am I" in 1962 set a record for a female solo artist that was not equaled (and later broken) until 1986 (by Madonna). The biggest-selling track of Lee's career was a Christmas song. In 1958, when she was 13, producer Owen Bradley asked her to record a new song by Johnny Marks, who had had success writing Christmas tunes for country singers, most notably "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry) and "A Holly, Jolly Christmas" (Burl Ives). Lee recorded the song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", in July with a prominent twanging guitar part by Hank Garland.

Decca released it as a single that November, but it sold only 5,000 copies, and did not do much better when it was released again in 1959. However, it eventually sold more than five million copies. In 1960, she recorded her signature song, "I'm Sorry", which hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. It was her first gold single and was nominated for a Grammy. Even though it was not released as a country song, it was among the first big hits to use what was to become the Nashville sound – a string orchestra and legato harmonized background vocals. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" got noticed in its third release a few months later, and sales snowballed; the song remains a perennial favorite each December and is the record with which she is most identified by contemporary audiences. Her last top ten single on the pop charts was 1963's "Losing You" (No. 6), while she continued to have other chart songs such as her 1966 song "Coming On Strong" and "Is It True?" in 1964.

The latter, featuring Jimmy Page on guitar, Bobby Graham on drums, was her only hit single recorded in London, England and was produced by Mickie Most. It was recorded at Decca Records number two studio at their West Hampstead complex, as was the 'b' side, a version of Ray Charles' 1959 classic cut, "What'd I Say?", which wasn't released in America. International fame Lee was popular in the United Kingdom early in her career. She toured the UK in 1959, before she had achieved much pop recognition in the US. Her 1961 rockabilly release "Let's Jump the Broomstick", recorded in 1959, did not chart in the US, but went to No. 12 in the UK. She then had two top 10 hits in the UK that were not released as singles in her native country: "Speak To Me Pretty" peaked at No. 3 in early 1962, followed by "Here Comes That Feeling", which reached No. 5. The latter was issed as the b-side to "Everybody Loves Me But You", a No. 6 in the US.

However, "Here Comes That Feeling" still made an appearance in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 69. Brenda Lee also toured in Ireland and appeared on the front of the dancing and entertainment magazine of the time there, Spotlight, in April 1963. She was one of many stars to come to Ireland that year. Lee enjoys one distinction unique among successful American singers; her opening act on a UK tour in the early 1960s was a then-little-known beat group from Liverpool, England: The Beatles. Later career During the early 1970s, Lee re-established herself as a country music artist, and earned a string of top ten hits on the country charts. The first was 1973's "Nobody Wins", which reached the top five that spring and became her last Top 100 pop hit, peaking at No. 70. The follow-up, the Mark James composition "Sunday Sunrise", reached No. 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart that October.

Other major hits included "Wrong Ideas" and "Big Four Poster Bed" (1974); and "Rock On Baby" and "He's My Rock" (both 1975). After a few years of lesser hits, Lee began another run at the top ten with 1979's "Tell Me What It's Like". Two follow-ups also reached the Top 10 in 1980: "The Cowboy and the Dandy" and "Broken Trust" (the latter featuring vocal backing by The Oak Ridge Boys). A 1982 album, The Winning Hand, featuring Lee along with Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, was a surprise hit, reaching the top ten on the U.S. country albums chart. Her last well-known hit was 1985's "Hallelujah, I Love Her So", a duet with George Jones. Recent years Over the ensuing years, Lee continued to record and perform around the world, previously cutting records in four different languages. In 1992, she recorded a duet ("You’ll Never Know") with Willy DeVille on his album Loup Garou.

Today, she continues to perform and tour. On October 4, 2000, Lee inducted fellow country music legend Charley Pride into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, Brenda Lee: Little Miss Dynamite, was published by Hyperion in 2002 (ISBN 0-7868-6644-6). Family Although Lee's songs have often centered on lost loves, and although she did lose her father at a young age, her marriage to Ronnie Shacklett in 1963 has endured. He was able to deal with the notoriously rapacious music industry and is credited with ensuring her long-term financial success. They have two daughters, Jolie and Julie (who was named after Patsy Cline's daughter) and three grandchildren, Taylor, Jordan and Charley. Recognition Lee reached the final ballot for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and 2001 without being inducted, but was voted into the hall for 2002.

To date, the 11 years between her 1990 and 2001 ballot appearances is the largest gap of this nature in the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Celebrating over 50 years as a recording artist, in September 2006 she was the second recipient of the Jo Meador-Walker Lifetime Achievement award by the Source Foundation in Nashville. In 1997, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame; and is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. In 2008, her recording of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" marked 50 years as a holiday standard, and in February 2009, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave Lee a Lifetime Achievement Grammy. References in popular culture Chuck Berry wrote a song about Lee on the album St. Louis to Liverpool.

She was also immortalized in Golden Earring's 1973 hit "Radar Love": "Radio's playing some forgotten song / Brenda Lee's 'Coming on Strong'." She was also remembered as a heroine to Burton Cummings on his self-titled 1970s album in the song "Dream of a Child," including the closing line, "I love Brenda Lee / Brenda Lee loves me / yeah...". Ben Vaughn wrote and released "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)" in 1985, which has also been covered by Marshall Crenshaw. Lee is also referenced in Smokey and the Bandit. "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" was heard in the 1990 movie Home Alone. "I'm Sorry" can be heard in the 1991 movie The Fisher King, the 1993 movie This Boy's Life, and the 1995 movie Tommy Boy. "Sweet Nothing's" can be heard in 2009's critically acclaimed An Education.

"I Wonder," released in 1963, was the song playing at Colleen's funeral in the episode "The Cost of Living" in Season 3 of the ABC television show Lost. The episode originally aired on November 1, 2006. Kelly Clarkson appeared as Lee on two episodes of the NBC series American Dreams. "Break It To Me Gently" plays during the credits of "The Gold Violin", Season 2: Episode 7 of the AMC series Mad Men. Her 1963 cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" is used in the end credits of the 2010 video game, Bayonetta. Brenda Mae Tarpley Net Worth, Bio 2017-2016, Wiki - REVISED! - Richest Celebrities Home / Musicians / Brenda Mae Tarpley Net Worth Brenda Mae Tarpley Net Worth How rich is Brenda Mae Tarpley?

Brenda Mae Tarpley net worth: Under Review Brenda Mae Tarpley profile links Brenda Mae Tarpley profile links More net worths Brenda Mae Tarpley net worth & biography: Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1960s. She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s, and is ranked fourth in that decade surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Ray Charles.

She is best known for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a US holiday standard for more than 50 years.At 4 ft 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite"; and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following.Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Brenda currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Wikipedia More about Brenda Mae Tarpley: Filmography Brenda Lee - Music on Google Play Brenda Lee About the artist Brenda Lee is an American performer and the top-charting solo female vocalist of the 1960s.

She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s, and is ranked fourth in that decade surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ray Charles. She is perhaps best known in the United States for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a United States holiday standard for more than 50 years. At 4 ft 9 inches tall, she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite" and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Brenda currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Brenda Lee is the only female artist to chart songs in every genre. 1 $6.99 Brenda Lee is the second studio album by American pop and country artist Brenda Lee. The album was released August 1, 1960 on Decca Records and was produced by Owen Bradley. The album's second sing... 1 1 $6.99 Grandma, What Great Songs You Sang! is the debut studio album by American pop and country artist Brenda Lee. The album was released on August 3, 1959 on Decca Records and was produced by Owen Bradl... 1 1 $9.49 Gospel Duets with Treasured Friends is an album by American pop and country artist Brenda Lee. The album was released April 10, 2007 on Provident Music. It features several duets of Brenda Lee with... 1 Connie Francis 0 Connie Francis is an American pop singer and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top...

0 Andy Williams 0 Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams was an American popular music singer. He recorded 44 albums in his career, 15 of which have been gold-certified and three of which have been platinum-certified. He was... 0 Perry Como 0 Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years after signing w... 0 Pat Boone 0 Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, composer, actor, writer, television personality, motivational speaker, and spokesman. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during th... 0 Bobby Helms 0 Robert Lee Helms, known professionally as Bobby Helms, was an American country music singer who enjoyed his peak success in 1957 with the seasonal hit "Jingle Bell Rock". His other hits include "Fr... 0 Neil Sedaka 0 Brooklyn-native Neil Sedaka began his prolific career as one of the original creators of the "Brill Building" sound and has sold over 60 million records worldwide. He has been inducted into the Son...

0 Patti Page 0 Clara Ann Fowler, known by her professional name Patti Page, was an American singer of traditional pop music. She was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s, s... 0 0 Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television. He began as an itinerant singer and banjoist, and launched his own radio show, The Wayfaring Stranger... 0 The Platters 0 The Platters are an American vocal group. They were one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley t... 0 Bobby Vinton 0 Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton, Jr. is an American singer and songwriter. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince of Poch", as his music pays tribute to his Polish heritage. Know... 0 Johnny Mathis 0 John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music and jazz. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of hi...

0 Skeeter Davis 0 Mary Frances Penick, better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's "The End of the World". She started out as part of the D... 0 Bobby Darin 0 Walden Robert Cassotto, known professionally as Bobby Darin, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor of film and television. He performed in a range of musical genres, ... 0 Eddie Fisher 0 Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher was an American singer and actor. He was the most successful pop singles artist during the first half of the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show... 0 Ricky Nelson 0 Ricky Nelson was an American actor, musician and singer-songwriter. He starred alongside his family in the television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as well as co-starring alongside Joh... 0 Frankie Laine 0 Frankie Laine was an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desir...

0 People - Lee, Brenda - GeorgiaInfo Return to Georgia People A-Z Lee, Brenda Singer Brenda Mae Tarpley was born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 11, 1944 - in the charity ward of Grady Hospital. Growing up in Lithonia, Brenda’s family was poor, and her father was constantly seeking work as a carpenter. Moving among numerous rental houses, Brenda found a rock of stability in her grandfather’s Baptist church, where even at age five she amazed church-goers with her powerful voice. Soon her voice was discovered and she was on her way to stardom under the name Brenda Lee. Early in her career, she was a rock ‘n roll singer with such hits as “Dynamite,”“I’m Sorry,” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” By age thirty she had moved to the country music scene, where she continued her popularity. On September 24, 1997, Brenda Lee was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Despite living in Nashville today, she still claims Georgia as her home.

Brenda Lee married, boyfriend, husband, children, divorce, twitter, wiki More facts Less facts In the year 1955, she made her on air debut on Ozark Jubilee in Missouri. She then started getting attention for her singing. After singing in various local shows and stages, she achieved success in 1950s. Her songs Jambalaya, I want to be wanted, All alone am I and Fool No. 1 were very successful. Later in 1960, she came out with song I’m Sorry which became biggest hit song of her. This song was in No.1 on Billboard pop chart as well as certified Gold. Her song also was in the nomination list of Grammy Award. Till date, she is known for this song. Some of the songs of her in that time are Losing You, Coming on Strong, Is It True? Surprisingly, she was got limelight in UK rather US. So, she toured UK in the year 1959 before becoming famous in US. Some of the songs she sang in that meantime are Let’s Jump the Broomstick, Speak to me Pretty, Here comes that feeling and Everybody Loves Me But You.

All of her songs were listed on Chartbuster lists. She toured most of the countries to promote her songs as well as to perform. After her charm started to decline, she shifted to country music. Most of the country songs of her are hit and successful. Some of her country music songs are Nobody Wins, Sunday Sunrise, Wrong Ideas, Big Four Poster Bed, Rock on Baby as well as He’s my Rock. As she became matured her voice also started to fade. Then, her downfall began but without being depressed she again came out with another album in the year 1979. Some of the songs of that album are Tell Me What It’s Like, The Cowboy and the Dandy and Broken Trust. Later in 1982, she collaborated with Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson to release another album namely The Winning Hand which was very successful. Her last hit song is Hallelujah, I Love Her So. She these days also is busy in touring and performing. In 2002, her memoir Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee were published.

In addition to this, she was induced into Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998 as well as was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2009, she was honored with Grammy Lifetime achievement awards. Unfortunately, there is no information regarding her net worth. She got married to Ronnie Shacklett in April 24, 1963. Since then, they are living happy and prosperous life. She and her husband Ronnie have 2 children and 3 grandchildren. She is currently living with her husband in Tennessee. Without a doubt, she is one of the talented and well known actresses over the years. Though her roads to success were hard but her hard work and dedication made it easier. Her talent is well paid. More details about her can be found in information sites as well as in her private site. Her fans can follow her in various social networking sites like twitter where her other fans are already in touch with her.

Report This Page Brenda Lee - Biography - IMDb Brenda Lee Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (7) Overview (4) 4' 9" (1.45 m) Mini Bio (1) Brenda Lee was born on December 11, 1944 in Lithonia, Georgia, USA as Brenda Mae Tarpley. She has been married to Ronnie Shacklett since April 24, 1963. They have two children. Spouse (1) ( 24 April 1963 - present) (2 children) Trivia (7) Though best known as a country singer, she had a long string of pop hits in the early 1960s, most notably "I'm Sorry," a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit in 1960. "I'm Sorry" never charted on Billboard's country singles chart, though has received heavy airplay in the years since as both a recurrent and a classic oldie. Until Billy Gilman charted his first hit in 2000, was the youngest person to place a song on Billboard's country singles chart.

At age 12, she hit in 1957 with "One Step at a Time." Her biggest country hits include "Nobody Wins" and "Sunday Sunrise" (1973); "Four Poster Bed" (1974); "Rock On Baby" and "He's My Rock" (1975); "Tell Me What It's Like" (1979); "The Cowboy and the Dandy" and "Broken Trust" (1980); and "Hallelujah, I Love You So" (a 1985 duet with George Jones ). Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Her children are named Jolie and Julie. Recorded the famous Christmas classic, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", with legendary guitar player Hank Garland .

See also Brenda Lee’s Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm Listeners Biography Brenda Lee, née Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia), is an American country-pop singer, who was popular during the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1960s she had more charted hits than any other woman, and only three male singers/groups (Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and The Beatles) outpaced her. She was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. She was given the nickname Little Miss Dynamite after recording Dynamite in 1957; the explosive strength of the sound pouring out of her small frame amazed audiences and promoters. Her general popularity faded as her voice suffered damage and matured in the late 1960s, but she successfully continued her recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer. She was able to chart in Billboard's country-western top-ten twice in 1980.

She enjoys one distinction unique among successful American singers; her opening act on a UK tour in the early 1960s was a little-known beat group from Liverpool, England: The Beatles. Early Years Lee's father, Ruben Tarpley, was born roughly halfway between Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia. He was the son of a hardscrabble farmer in Georgia's red-clay belt, which was devastated by soil depletion and the boll weevil. Although he stood only 170 cm (5 feet 7 inches), he was an excellent left-handed pitcher, and spent 11 years in the Army playing baseball. Her mother, Annie Grayce Yarbrough, had a similar background of an honest, uneducated working class family in Greene County, Georgia, although she had the distinction of a Cherokee great-grandparent. Brenda was born Brenda Mae Tarpley in the charity ward of Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 11, 1944. She weighed 2126 g (4 pounds 11 ounces) at birth. She attended grade schools wherever her father found work, primarily in the corridor between Atlanta and Augusta.

Her family was poor, living hand-to-mouth; she shared a bed with her two siblings in a series of three-room houses without running water. Life centered around her parents' finding work, their extended family, and the Baptist Church (where she sang solos every Sunday). She was a musical prodigy. Although her family did not have indoor plumbing until after her father's death, they had a battery-powered table radio that fascinated Brenda as a baby. By the time she was two, she would hear songs on the radio once and be able to whistle the complete tune. Both her mother and sister remember taking her repeatedly to a local candy store before she turned three; one of them would stand her on the counter and she would earn free candy or small coins for singing. Her voice, pretty face, and complete absence of stage fright won her wider attention from the time she was five years old. At age 6, she won a local singing contest sponsored by the elementary schools. The reward was a live appearance on an Atlanta radio show, "Starmakers Revue". Her father died in 1953. By the time she turned ten, she had become the primary breadwinner of her family by singing at events and on local radio and television shows.

Her break into big-time show business came when she turned down paid employment – $30 to sing on a local television station in Atlanta – in order to hear Red Foley and the Ozark Jubilee in Augusta. An Augusta DJ convinced Foley to hear her sing before the show. Foley was as transfixed as everyone else who heard the huge voice coming from the tiny girl and immediately agreed to let her to perform the Hank Williams standard Jambalaya on stage that night, unrehearsed. Foley later recounted the moments following her introduction: I still get cold chills thinking about the first time I heard that voice. One foot started patting rhythm as though she was stomping out a prairie fire but not another muscle in that little body even as much as twitched. And when she did that trick of breaking her voice, it jarred me out of my trance enough to realize I'd forgotten to get off the stage. There I stood, after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front of an audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes. The audience erupted in applause and refused to let her leave the stage until she had sung three more songs.

She was eleven years old and well under five feet tall. (As an adult, she was variously reported to stand between 140 and 145 cm tall: 4' 7" and 4' 9".) Less than two months later – on July 30, 1956 – Decca Records offered her a recording contract. She began her recording career at age 11 with rockabilly songs like "BIGELOW 6-200" (a telephone number with the numerals pronounced six two oh oh) and "Little Jonah." The song "Dynamite", coming out of a 145-cm frame (4 foot 9 inch), led to her lifelong nickname, "Little Miss Dynamite." Along with Connie Francis, she was one of the first female idols, achieving huge popularity with a long string of hits. At Christmas 1958, she released "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," which sold only 5,000 copies during its initial release. However, it would eventually sell over five million copies.

Disc jockeys also dubbed her "Little Miss Razz Matazz" after her husky, pounding voice belted out her first U.S. Top 10 hit, "Sweet Nothin's," in late 1959. The Height of Her Career Brenda Lee first attracted attention performing in country music venues, and her first single, 1957's "One Step at a Time", was a country hit. However, her label and management felt it best to market her exclusively as a pop artist, the result being that none of her best-known recordings from the 1960s were released to country radio, and despite her obvious country sound, she would not have another country hit until 1969. Brenda Lee came to her biggest success on the Pop charts in the late 1950s through the mid 1960s with rockabilly and rock and roll styled songs.

Her biggest hits during this time include a rockabilly version of the country classic "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," "Sweet Nothin's" (written by the country musician Ronnie Self), "I Want to Be Wanted," "All Alone Am I," and "Fool #1". The overall biggest selling track of Lee's career is, oddly enough, a Christmas song. In 1958, when she was 13, Owen Bradley asked her to record a new song written by Johnny Marks, who had had success writing Christmas tunes for country singers, most notably "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry) and "A Holly, Jolly Christmas" (Burl Ives). Lee recorded the song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in July with a prominent twanging guitar part by Hank Garland. Decca released it as a single that November, but it sold only 5,000 copies, and did not do much better when it was released again in 1959. In 1960, she recorded her signature song, "I'm Sorry", which hit number one on the Billboard pop chart and was her first gold single.

Even though it was not released as a country song, it was the first big hit to use what was to become the new "Nashville Sound" – a string orchestra and legato harmonized background vocals. (Ray Charles used the same sound that year on the huge pop hit, Georgia on My Mind.) "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" got noticed in its third release a few months later, and sales snowballed; the song remains a perennial radio favorite each December and is probably the record with which she is most identified by contemporary audiences. Lee was popular in the UK very early in her career. She toured the UK in 1959, before she had achieved much pop recognition in the US. Her 1961 rockabilly release "Let's Jump the Broomstick" did not chart in the US, but went to #12 in the UK.

She then had two top 10 hits in the UK that were not released as singles in her native country: "Speak To Me Pretty" peaked at number three in early 1962, followed by "Here Comes That Feeling." Her last top-10 single on the pop charts was 1963's "Losing You," while she continued to have other chart songs such as her 1966 song "Coming On Strong" and "Is It True?" in 1964. The latter was her only hit single recorded in London, England, and was produced by Mickie Most, who at the time was producing hits for The Animals and Herman's Hermits. During the early 1970s, Lee re-established herself as a country music artist, and earned a string of Top 10 hits on the country charts. Th first of these was 1973's "Nobody Wins," which reached the Top 5 that spring and also became her last Top 100 pop hit, peaking at number 70. The follow-up, the Mark James composition "Sunday Sunrise," reached number six on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart that October.

Other major hits included "Wrong Ideas" and "Big Four Poster Bed" (1974); and "Rock On Baby" and "He's My Rock" (both 1975). After a few years of lesser hits, Lee began another run at the Top 10 with 1979's "Tell Me What It's Like." Two follow-ups also reached the Top 10 in 1980: "The Cowboy and the Dandy" and "Broken Trust" (the latter featuring vocal backing by The Oak Ridge Boys). A 1982 album, The Winning Hand, featuring reissues of a number of Lee's 1960s Monument hits, as well as that of Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, was a surprise hit, reaching the top-ten on the U.S. country albums chart. Her last well-known hit was 1985's "Hallelujah, I Love Her So," a duet with George Jones. Today, she continues to perform and tour as a country singer. Life Today Over the ensuing years, Lee has continued to record and perform all around the world, previously cutting records in four different languages.

She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. In 1992, Lee recorded a duet ("You’ll Never Know") with Willy DeVille, on his album Loup Garou. Chuck Berry wrote a song about Brenda Lee on the album St. Louis to Liverpool. She was also immortalized in the hit Golden Earring song "Radar Love": "Radio's playing some forgotten song / Brenda Lee's 'Coming on Strong'." She was also remembered as a heroine to Burton Cummings on his self-titled 70's album in the song "Dream of a Child," including the closing line, "I love Brenda Lee / Brenda Lee loves me / yeah…" Although her songs have often centered on lost loves, and although she did lose her father at a young age, her marriage to Ronnie Shacklett in 1963 was a success. He was able to deal with the notoriously rapacious music industry, which had exploited her badly, and is credited with ensuring her long-term financial success.

They have two daughters, Jolie and Julie (who was named for Patsy Cline's daughter) and three grandchildren, Taylor, Jordan and Charley. Celebrating over 50 years as a recording artist, Brenda Lee was given the Jo Meador-Walker Lifetime Achievement award by Source Nashville in September 2006. She is the second recipient of the award, Jo Meador-Walker being the first. Brenda Lee Discography Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree with Brenda Lee - Tickets - CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, TN - December 9, 2015 - NIGHTOUT Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree with Brenda Lee Wed, December 9, 2015 - 7:30pm CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum 222 5th Ave South Details Headliners Born Brenda Mae Tarpley on December 11, 1944, Lee has achieved success in numerous genres, decades and continents during her ground-breaking career.

Her indelible contributions to American music - from the rockabilly-infused "Dynamite" to the classic ballad "I'm Sorry" and the holiday standard "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" - were acknowledged formally with her inductions into both the Country and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. WedDec | 09 Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree with Brenda Lee CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon. Partnerships We love doing awesome things with innovative people and companies. Quickly tell us a little more about you and what you're thinkin' and we'll be in touch asap. Name There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon. Invest Inquiry Interested in learning more about NIGHTOUT and our growth plans? We'd love to meet you and share more. Quickly tell us a little more about you and we'll be in touch asap. Name There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon.

Request a Demo We'd love to show you our platform and all the ways it can help you do more! Quickly tell us a little more about you and we'll be in touch asap. Name There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon. Join the Team We're small team doing big things. Do you want to join the fun? Tell us a little more about you and we'll get back to you asap Name There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon. Get In Touch Tell us a little more and we’ll be in touch asap. Name There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon. Support Tell us a little more and we’ll be in touch asap. Name There was an issue while sending your message. Please try again Thank you for your inquiry! We'll be in touch soon. Contact Us Tell us a little more and we’ll be in touch asap. Name Where to find my tickets? Tickets are located in your account.

You can view, print, email and even text them directly to yourself and / or your friends. If you can't login or access your tickets it's possible that your email may have been entered incorrectly when you originally placed your order. Please give us a call or shoot us an email and we'll give you a hand. Where can I get more info about an event? Your best bet is to reach out directly to the event organizer. You can typically find their contact details and web resources on the event page. If you run into any snags you can always get in touch with us and we’ll help with whatever we can. Contact Support Can I get a refund? Generally speaking, each event has it's own refund policy that is set forth by the event organizer or venue. Most events have a zero refund policy and there's nothing NIGHTOUT can do to process or offer a refund for you. An event's refund policy is or was presented to you on the event page in the "Purchase Conditions" box located near the Checkout button. If you are or were uncertain about your event's refund policy, we recommend you contact the event organizer for their policy and any questions relating to a refund.

If you purchased Refund Protection as you placed your order you can submit an application for a refund here. NIGHTOUT uses a third party service, Booking Protect as it's Refund Protection partner. Any questions about submitting an application for a refund, questions on a pending application or other Refund Protection related questions should be directed to them. You can contact them here. Didn't receive confirmation email? The first step is to check your spam folder as emails will sometimes end up there. It's also possible that your email may have been entered incorrectly when you originally placed your order. Please give us a call and we'll give you a hand. Remember Radio: Today's Featured Artist...May 13th...Brenda Lee (5 videos) Today's Featured Artist...May 13th...Brenda Lee (5 videos) Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer and the top-charting solo female vocalist of the 1960s.

She sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s, and is ranked fourth in that decade surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ray Charles.[1] She is perhaps best known in the United States for her 1960 hit "I'm Sorry", and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", a United States holiday standard for more than 50 years. At 4 ft 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite" and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. Lee's popularity faded in the late 1960s as her voice matured, but she continued a successful recording career by returning to her roots as a country singer with a string of hits through the 1970s and 1980s. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Brenda currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Early years Lee was born Brenda Mae Tarpley in the charity ward of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, daughter of Reuben Lindsey Tarpley and Annie Grayce (Yarbrough) Tarpley.[2] She weighed 4 pounds 11 ounces at birth. Lee attended grade schools wherever her father found work, primarily between Atlanta and Augusta. Her family was poor, often living hand-to-mouth. As a child, she shared a bed with her brother and sister in a series of three-room houses without running water. Life centered around her parents finding work, their family, and the Baptist church, where she began singing solos every Sunday.[3] Lee's father was a farmer's son in Georgia's red-clay belt. Standing 5 ft 7 inches (170 cm), he was an excellent left-handed pitcher and spent 11 years in the United States Army playing baseball. Her mother came from an under-educated working class family in Greene County, Georgia. Lee was a musical prodigy. Though her family did not have indoor plumbing until after her father's death, they had a battery-powered table radio that fascinated Brenda as a baby.

By the time she was two, she could whistle the melody of songs she heard on the radio.[4] Both her mother and sister remembered taking her repeatedly to a local candy store before she turned three; one of them would stand her on the counter and she would earn candy or coins for singing. Child performer Lee's voice, pretty face and stage presence won her wider attention from the time she was five years old. At age six, she won a local singing contest sponsored by local elementary schools. The reward was a live appearance on an Atlanta radio show, Starmakers Revue, where she performed for the next year. Her father died in 1953, and by the time she turned ten, she was the primary breadwinner of her family through singing at events and on local radio and television shows. During that time, she appeared regularly on the country music show "TV Ranch" on WAGA-TV in Atlanta; she was so short, the host would lower a stand microphone as low as it would go and stand her up on a wooden crate to reach it.

In 1955, Grayce Tarpley was remarried to Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who moved the family to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked at the Jimmy Skinner Music Center. Lee performed with Skinner at the record shop on two Saturday programs broadcast over Newport, Kentucky radio station WNOP. The family soon returned to Georgia, however, this time to Augusta and Lee appeared on the show The Peach Blossom Special on WJAT-AM in Swainsboro. National exposure and stardom Her break into big-time show business came in February 1955, when she turned down $30 to appear on a Swainsboro radio station in order to see Red Foley and a touring promotional unit of his ABC-TV program Ozark Jubilee in Augusta. An Augusta disc jockey persuaded Foley to hear her sing before the show. Foley was as transfixed as everyone else who heard the huge voice coming from the tiny girl and immediately agreed to let her perform "Jambalaya" on stage that night, unrehearsed. Foley later recounted the moments following her introduction: “ I still get cold chills thinking about the first time I heard that voice.

One foot started patting rhythm as though she was stomping out a prairie fire but not another muscle in that little body even as much as twitched. And when she did that trick of breaking her voice, it jarred me out of my trance enough to realize I'd forgotten to get off the stage. There I stood, after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front of an audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes. ” The audience erupted in applause and refused to let her leave the stage until she had sung three more songs. On March 31, 1955, the 10-year-old made her network debut on Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri. Although her five-year contract with the show was broken by a 1957 lawsuit brought by her mother and her manager,[5] she made regular appearances on the program throughout its run. Less than two months later, on July 30, 1956, Decca Records offered her a contract, and her first record was "Jambalaya", backed with "Bigelow 6‑200".

Lee's second single featured two novelty Christmas tunes: "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus", and "Christy Christmas". Though she turned 12 on December 11, 1956, both of the first two Decca singles credit her as "Little Brenda Lee (9 Years Old)." Neither of the 1956 releases charted, but her first issue in 1957, "One Step at a Time", written by Hugh Ashley, became a hit in both the pop and country fields. Her next hit, "Dynamite", coming out of a 4 ft 9 inch frame, led to her lifelong nickname, Little Miss Dynamite. Lee first attracted attention performing in country music venues and shows; however, her label and management felt it best to market her exclusively as a pop artist, the result being that none of her best-known recordings from the 1960s were released to country radio, and despite her country sound, with top Nashville session people, she did not have another country hit until 1969, and "Johnny One Time".

Biggest hits: 1958–1966 Lee achieved her biggest success on the pop charts in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s with rockabilly and rock and roll-styled songs. Her biggest hits included "Jambalaya", "Sweet Nothin's" (No. 4, written by country musician Ronnie Self), "I Want to Be Wanted" (No. 1), "All Alone Am I" (No. 3) and "Fool #1" (No. 3). She had more hits with the more pop-based songs "That's All You Gotta Do" (No. 6), "Emotions" (No. 7), "You Can Depend on Me" (No. 6), "Dum Dum" (No. 4), 1962's "Break It to Me Gently" (No. 2), "Everybody Loves Me But You" (No. 6), and "As Usual" (No. 12).

Lee's total of nine consecutive top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits from "That's All You Gotta Do" in 1960 through "All Alone Am I" in 1962 set a record for a female solo artist that was not equaled (and later broken) until 1986 by Madonna. The biggest-selling track of Lee's career was a Christmas song. In 1958, when she was 13, producer Owen Bradley asked her to record a new song by Johnny Marks, who had had success writing Christmas tunes for country singers, most notably "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry) and "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (Burl Ives). Lee recorded the song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", in July with a prominent twanging guitar part by Hank Garland and raucous sax soloing by Nashville icon Boots Randolph. Decca released it as a single that November, but it sold only 5,000 copies, and did not do much better when it was released again in 1959.

However, it eventually sold more than five million copies.[6] In 1960, she recorded her signature song, "I'm Sorry", which hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. It was her first gold single and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Even though it was not released as a country song, it was among the first big hits to use what was to become the Nashville sound — a string orchestra and legato harmonized background vocals. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" got noticed in its third release a few months later, and sales snowballed; the song remains a perennial favorite each December and is the record with which she is most identified by contemporary audiences.

Her last top ten single on the pop charts in the United States was 1963's "Losing You" (No.6), though she continued to have other chart hits such as 1964's "As Usual" (which peaked at No.12 in the US and made No.5 in the UK), her 1966 song "Coming on Strong" (which peaked at No.11 in the US) and "Is It True" (No.17 in both the US and the UK) in 1964. The latter, featuring Big Jim Sullivan, Jimmy Page on guitars, Bobby Graham on drums, was her only hit single recorded in London, England, and was produced by Mickie Most (but the slide guitar and background singers were overdubbed in Nashville). It was recorded at Decca Records' number two studio at their West Hampstead complex, as was the UK B-side, a version of Ray Charles' 1959 classic cut, "What'd I Say?", which wasn't released in America.

The A-side "Is It True?" was composed by noted British songwriting team Ken Lewis (b: 120340; d: 080215) and John Carter, who were also members of UK hitmakers the Ivy League. International fame Lee was popular in the UK from early in her career. She toured the UK in 1959, before she had achieved much pop recognition in the United States. Her first hit single in the UK was "Sweet Nothin's", which reached No.4 on the UK singles chart in the spring of 1960. She subsequently had a UK hit (in 1961) with "Let's Jump the Broomstick", a rockabilly number recorded in 1959, which had not charted in the United States, and reached No.12 in the UK.

Lee had two Top Ten hits in the UK that were not released as singles in her native country: the first, "Speak to Me Pretty" peaked at No.3 in May 1962 and was her greatest hit in the UK by chart placing, swiftly followed by "Here Comes That Feeling", which reached No.5 in the summer of 1962. The latter was issued as the B-side to "Everybody Loves Me But You" in the United States (which peaked at No.6 on the Billboard Hot 100); however, it should be noted that "Here Comes That Feeling" also made an appearance in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No.89, despite its B-side status in the US. In 1962, while touring Germany, she appeared at the famous Star Club, Hamburg and the Beatles were her opening act. Lee also had big hits in the UK with "All Alone Am I" (No.7 in 1963) and "As Usual" (No.5 in 1964).

Brenda Lee first visited England for a 3 day visit in April 1959 as a last minute replacement on "Oh Boy!". She first toured the UK in March and April 1962 with Gene Vincent and Sounds Incorporated (as her backing group), and with the Bachelors, Sounds Incorporated, Tony Sheridan and Mike Berry in March 1963. Brenda Lee also toured in Ireland in 1963 and appeared on the front cover of the dancing and entertainment magazine Spotlight there, in April that year. After appearing at the annual Royal Variety Performance before Queen Elizabeth II at the London Palladium on 2 November 1964, Lee toured Britain again in November and December 1964, supported by (amongst others) Manfred Mann, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, the John Barry Seven, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, Marty Wilde, the Tornados and Heinz Burt. Later career During the early 1970s, Lee re-established herself as a country music artist, and earned a string of top ten hits in the United States on the country charts.

The first was 1973's "Nobody Wins", which reached the top five that spring and became her last Top 100 pop hit, peaking at No. 70. The follow-up, the Mark James composition "Sunday Sunrise", reached No. 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart that October. Other major hits included "Wrong Ideas" and "Big Four Poster Bed" (1974); and "Rock on Baby" and "He's My Rock" (both 1975). After a few years of lesser hits, Lee began another run at the top ten with 1979's "Tell Me What It's Like". Two follow-ups also reached the Top 10 in 1980: "The Cowgirl and the Dandy" and "Broken Trust" (the latter featuring vocal backing by the Oak Ridge Boys). A 1982 album, The Winning Hand, featuring Lee along with Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, was a surprise hit, reaching the top ten on the U.S. country albums chart.

Her last well-known hit was 1985's "Hallelujah, I Love Her So", a duet with George Jones. Recent years Over the ensuing years, Lee continued to record and perform around the world, having previously cut records in four different languages. In 1992, she recorded a duet ("You’ll Never Know") with Willy DeVille on his album Loup Garou. Today, she continues to perform and tour. On October 4, 2000, Lee inducted fellow country music legend Charley Pride into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee, was published by Hyperion in 2002 (ISBN 0-7868-6644-6). To this day, Lee is very involved with the Country Music Hall of Fame, announcing the inductees each year and then officially presenting them with their membership medallions at a special ceremony every year. The most recent inductees announced by Lee are Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels and Fred Foster in 2016.

Family Although Lee's songs often centered on lost loves, her 1963 marriage to Ronnie Shacklett has endured the years. He was able to deal with the music industry and is credited with ensuring her long-term financial success. They have two daughters, Jolie and Julie (named after Patsy Cline's daughter), and three grandchildren, Taylor, Jordan and Charley. Recognition Lee reached the final ballot for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and 2001 without being inducted, but was voted into the hall for 2002. Celebrating over 50 years as a recording artist, in September 2006 she was the second recipient of the Jo Meador-Walker Lifetime Achievement award by the Source Foundation in Nashville. In 1997, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In 2008, her recording of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" marked 50 years as a holiday standard, and in February 2009, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave Lee a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. References in popular culture Chuck Berry wrote a song about Lee on the album St. Louis to Liverpool. She was also mentioned in Golden Earring's 1973 hit "Radar Love": "Radio's playing some forgotten song / Brenda Lee's 'Coming on Strong'." She was also remembered as a heroine to Burton Cummings on his 1978 album Dream of a Child in the title track including the lines "When I was a child, dreamed that Elvis Presley, was standing on the corner, kissing Brenda Lee", and in the closing line, "I love Brenda Lee / Brenda Lee loves me / yeah...". Ben Vaughn wrote and released "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)" in 1985, which has also been covered by Marshall Crenshaw. Lee is also referenced in the film Smokey and the Bandit. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was heard in the 1990 film Home Alone.

"I'm Sorry" can be heard in the 1991 film The Fisher King, the 1993 film This Boy's Life, and the 1995 film Tommy Boy. "Sweet Nothin's" can be heard in 2009's critically acclaimed An Education. "I Wonder", released in 1963, was the song playing at Colleen's funeral in the episode "The Cost of Living" in Season 3 of the ABC television show Lost. The episode originally aired on November 1, 2006. Kelly Clarkson appeared as Lee on two episodes of the NBC series American Dreams. "Break It To Me Gently" plays during the credits of "The Gold Violin", Season 2: Episode 7 of the AMC series Mad Men and Season 1: Episode 7 of the ABC series Pan Am. Her 1963 cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" is used in the end credits of the 2010 video game, Bayonetta.

After being name-dropped in Smokey and the Bandit as a favorite of the Bandit, Lee put in an appearance in the sequel Smokey and the Bandit II listed as "Nice Lady", a wedding guest who seems to take some glee at reminding Sheriff Justice of his previous encounter with Bo "Bandit" Darville. Kanye West's song "Bound 2" samples Lee's voice from the song "Sweet Nothin's" on his 2013 album, Yeezus. Her music is also used in Nikos Nikolaidis' 1979 film The Wretches Are Still Singing. at

Question: Brenda Mae Tarpley achieved fame under what name?
Answer: BRENDA LEE