- Friends, here's Little Miss TNT.

(upbeat music) - She walked into the studio with that right relationship at 13, 14, whatever age it was.

When she walked outta that studio, she was 21.

- I thought, Brenda can't be this young.

By the time she got 14 or 15 years old, she had a much lower register, but she was always in control.

- Even at 11 and 12 years old in the recording studio with the A team here in Nashville.

♪ My baby whispers in my ear ♪ ♪ Mm, sweet nothings ♪ - So for me to be able to say, "Mom, you don't have to go to the cotton mill today, it's okay."

That was a great thing.

♪ Things he wouldn't tell nobody else ♪ ♪ Secret baby, I keep them to myself ♪ ♪ Sweet nothings, mm ♪ - When I first heard Brenda Lee, I thought, how can this be coming out of this person?

- I just always think of her going ♪ dynamite ♪ with that little growly thing she does all the time.

Just unbelievable.

- No one says Country artist Brenda Lee, or Rock and Roll Star, it's, she's just Brenda.

- She had a fully formed career by the time she signed a record contract.

- My experience was positive because we were all, especially in the rock movement, that was a whole new thing that we were all novices at.

- She was an anomaly at that time.

So that really, you know, when you're different and unique, that gets you a long way.

- I don't see Brenda Lee in any box.

She'd kick out the sides anyway if she was ever put in one, - She had more double-sided hits than anyone in history, before or since.

She was the largest selling female vocalist of the 1960s.

- They did sit her down at one point and said, "Look, you know, as we move toward different things in your career, you need to understand you're not always going to be America's darling.

You will not always have the number one record in America."

- She just had the number one record at Christmas.

I mean, she's just, come on, who does that?

♪ Rockin' around the Christmas tree ♪ ♪ At the Christmas ♪ - That song didn't go number one over all those decades and finally went number one, crazy.

- It's not Christmas if I don't hear "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Brenda Lee.

People can't really believe it's been that many years.

- The season, our house at every Christmas, you know?

- It's true.

- She's like sitting next to the tree with a present.

- Is she country?

Yes.

Is she pop?

Yes.

Is she rockabilly?

Yes.

And she sings it all effortlessly.

- She has tenacity and perseverance.

- My mother told me, "Don't let anybody tell you who you are, you know who you are.

Now go be it."

♪ Dynamite ♪ ♪ You're dynamite, dynamite ♪