Brenda Lee’s name may not be as recognizable as some of the other music stars from the 1960s but when you think of Christmas, you’ll know her song, and start humming her catchy tune, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
When Lee, now 78, first hit the stage, she wasn’t old enough to drive but her powerful vocals steered her “unprecedented international popularity” as the most successful female artist of the 1960s.
Lee, whose voice defied her diminutive stature at only 4 foot 9, became a fan favorite when she was only 12.
Brenda May Tarpley, born in 1944, got her start in the late 1940s, became huge in the 1950s, and over her career–that started before she left elementary school–she topped the charts 55 times, earning the title as the most successful female recording artist of the 1960s.
When Lee was only eight (according to Rolling Stone), her father, a construction worker, was killed at work and little Brenda–who then changed her last name to Lee–became the family’s primary provider.
Taking care of her younger brother, big sister, and mother–a cotton mill worker–was not a duty, but something she wanted to do. She said that she was thrilled when she made her first $20, so she could help her family: “Even at that young age, I saw that helped our life,” Lee said, adding “It put some food on the table. It helped, and I loved it.”
The Atlanta-born chanteuse, called a “pioneer of early rock and roll,” by the Georgia Encyclopedia, achieved “unprecedented international popularity in the 1960s.”
But, an incredibly humble human, Lee credits those who helped her achieve her dreams. When Christianity Today asked what she thinks about being a legend, Lee said “I don’t think of myself that way!” She continued, “I’m just a girl who’s been blessed to be doing what I’m doing, and there’s a lot of people who’ve sweated a lot of tears and put a lot of life’s work into me to be able to have my dream. So, if I’m a legend, then they’re legends, too.”
In 1956, the young girl joined country star Red Foley for a show at the Bell Auditorium near her home in Augusta, and she belted out “Jambalaya,” by Hank Williams.
She was then signed to appear on Foley’s Ozark Jubilee, a country music show, where millions of viewers fell in love with the sassy 12-year-old whose talent was developed well beyond her age.
In the same year, Lee signed with Decca Records, and the next year, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and fusing country with rhythm and blues–highlighted by her hiccupping vocals–she recorded early rockabilly classics like “BIGELOW 6-200,” “Little Jonah,” and “Let’s Jump the Broomstick.”
When asked if–when as a young girl–she was nervous performing in front of large crowds, she answered: “No, not really. Nobody ever told me to be nervous. The stage always felt like a hometown to me because I had been in front of people ever since I was 3 years old, singing to people. So it was a very comfortable spot for me.”
In 1957, Lee earned the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite” for her pint-sized powerhouse recording of the song “Dynamite,” and in 1958, fans heard “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree,” a genre and generation-crossing holiday standard, released when she was only 13.
“I knew it was magical,” she told Rolling Stone.
Over the next couple of years, she charted with hits like “Sweet Nuthin’s,” “All Alone Am I,” and “Fool #1.”
Most of her songs, however, contradicted her experience as a young girl. Her mother didn’t let her date and she graduated high school not understanding the heartbreak of young love.
She was only 16 when she said “Love could be so cruel” in the song “I’m Sorry” and only 16 when she said “I want his lips to kiss me” in the song “I Want to be Wanted,” both back-to-back hits when she was still in school.
And when she turned 18, she met Ronnie Shacklett, whom she’s now been happily married to for 60 years.
Life on the road for Lee as a youngster had its difficulties. She celebrated her 12th birthday in Las Vegas and speaking with the Las Vegas Journal, Lee explained her loneliness.
“Of course, I wasn’t even allowed to walk through a casino, I was so young. So I didn’t even know what a casino looked like. They took me into the kitchen, then into the showroom. And then when my show was over, I was brought back out through the kitchen and back up to my room. Children weren’t allowed … in the casino area.” She continued, “There wasn’t anything to do in Vegas for a kid. The most fun I had was on the stage.”
Speaking on what she missed out on as a child, the award-winning Lee said, “Many times, I yearned to be with my friends rather than be out there on the road.”
Turns out she made new friends on the road, like with the music group that opened for her at a 1962 show in Germany. “I hung out with John,” she says effortlessly, speaking of John Lennon. “He was extremely intelligent, very acerbic with his jokes, just a gentle person. When I found out that they later said they were fans of my music, I was just floored.”
Unemployed dad with face tattoo rejects 45 job offers since going viral with desperate work plea
A teenage father with ‘DEVAST8’ tattooed across his face is ‘waiting for the right job offer’ after his desperate plea for work went viral – and he has revealed he will be getting the jailhouse ink lasered off.
Mark Cropp, 19, from New Zealand, took to social media on Wednesday afternoon to beg someone to look past his criminal convictions and heavily-tattooed face and give him a chance at work.
Within hours he had been inundated with job offers and said he had ‘stopped counting when he reached 45’.
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Mark ‘Devast8’ Cropp (pictured) has revealed that he has turned down 45 job offers since his story went viral
The 19-year-old (pictured) had taken to social media in frustration that his face tattoos were preventing him from finding work
But he told Daily Mail Australia he still hadn’t ‘done a day’s work’.
‘I am just waiting for the right one to come about,’ he said.
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Some of the jobs required him to have his own car – he clarified – but he will need help getting to the work site.
‘Until I get my first paycheck and get a car I won’t be able to get myself around,’ he said.
The former criminal revealed he will be getting the artwork – designed by his brother after a night of drinking home brew in jail – removed as soon as possible.
‘A week before I got out I taped a picture of my face to the inside of an envelope so my partner could see it – she was devastated – but now she likes it and can’t see me without it,’ Cropp (pictured, right) said
Man with DEVAST8 tattoo speaks about trying to get a job
‘I am just working out a date to get it taken off – which sucks because it is going to hurt,’ he said.
‘And because, you know, this tattoo means something to me and my brother did it for me so it is hard to make the decision to get rid of it.
‘But I know it is the best thing for my future – and I want to be a person my family can look to for support.’
The artwork was designed to make him ‘look tough’ when he landed in jail following a long string of violent behaviour.
This image shows Cropp (pictured) before the face tattoo which made him go viral on social media
‘And because, you know, this tattoo means something to me and my brother did it for me so it is hard to make the decision to get rid of it,’ he said
Mark and girlfriend Taneia Ruki got together a year before he was sent to prison
It was meant to be a ‘little one along the jawline,’ but the pair got carried away after drinking home brew made from fermented apples, sugar and bread.
‘I went into jail with four tattoos and I came out with a full body suit,’ he said.
But the face tattoo was the biggest shock to his family.
‘A week before I got out I taped a picture of my face to the inside of an envelope so my partner could see it – she was devastated – but now she likes it and can’t see me without it.’
DEVAST8 happens to be the 19-year-old’s nickname.
Mark Cropp (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia he is still waiting for the right job to come along
Cropp (pictured) says the face tattoo was supposed to be small but he and his brother got carried away after drinking homebrew
‘I was going through a rough patch’: Teen with DEVAST8 jail tattoo
‘I would end up devastating everyone I met or got close to.
‘They would be disappointed with something I had done or said – I was always hearing “that’s devastating”,’ he said.
But he hopes the devastating chapters of his life are over – erased along with the ink on his face.
‘I have learnt from my mistake,’ he said.
‘I still don’t think people should be judged by the tattoos on their face – but I know it will keep happening unless I do something about it.’
Before his final desperate plea on Facebook the teenager said people had ‘laughed in (his) face’ when he had asked for work.
The tattoo was drawn with a homemade gun which used a needle made from the spring of a pen and powered by a cassette player.
Plastic knives and forks are burnt to a black plastic powder and mixed with toothpaste and water to create the ink.
The teenager has been out of jail for two weeks.
Mark has also been offered laser therapy to remove the tattoo and will have his first session on Tuesday (pictured right with partner)
The New Zealander (pictured) has been out of jail for two weeks and says he has learnt from his mistake
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