Last year, Brenda Lee made history when her “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 more than 50 years after its initial release in 1958. Today, Lee made history again with the newly released Spanish version of the hit song. Hear “Noche Buena y Navidad” below.
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Lee has recorded songs in several languages over the years. However, she never sang “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in Spanish. However, that’s not the thing that makes this version of the song so special. Today, Lee became the second major artist to release an AI-generated single after Randy Travis released his latest single earlier this year.
Four-time Latin Grammy-winning producer Auero Baqueiro helped to create the new version of the holiday hit. The production kept the original backing vocals and instrumentation and replaced Lee’s original lead vocals with the new AI-generated Spanish vocals with her blessing.
Brenda Lee on the New Version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
Brenda Lee spoke about the new version of her holiday classic in a statement. “I am so blown away by this new Spanish version of ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ which was created with the help of AI,” she said. “Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded ‘Rockin’’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do. To have this out now is pretty incredible and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way,” she added.
This single marks the first time a UMG artist used AI to create new vocals. It is also the first time AI was used to recreate a song in a new language.
UMe president and CEO Bruce Resinkoff spoke about the new track in a statement. “We are thrilled to work with Brenda Lee to make ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tre’ the first classic song translated responsibly into another language with the power of AI,” he said. “We are also very excited about the possibilities of this emerging technology and look forward to harnessing its capabilities to introduce new material created by and approved by our artists,” he added.
“The minute you hear Brenda Lee’s iconic voice on ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ you know it’s the official start of Christmas,” shared UMG Nashville chair and CEO Cindy Mabe. “The global hit has touched people all over the world and kept this young 13-year-old spirit of Christmas captured in a time capsule. We are all so excited for this new Spanish version created with the help of AI from that legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself to help celebrate this enduring, timeless classic,” Mabe added.
Featured Image by Jason Davis/WireImage
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