It has since been covered by numerous other artists, sometimes with the title "Run Run Rudolph".
History
Chuck Berry reported that he wrote the song himself, but then discovered that the name Rudolph was trademarked by Johnny Marks. Marks sued and consequently was given songwriting credit, although he "had nothing to do with the song." Berry also said that M. Brodie does not exist, but was a pseudonym created as "a scheme to make more money for Marks and his publisher."[10] Berry's 1958 45-rpm single gives writing credits to "C. Berry Music โ M. Brodie". All subsequent cover versions of the song are credited to Marks and Brodie, as published by Marks's St. Nicholas Music (ASCAP).[7]
The song's dialogue between Santa and the children references popular toys of the 1950s.
In 2023, Cher recorded a cover of the song for her Christmas album Christmas.[11]
Chart performance
During its initial chart run, Berry's 1958 recording peaked at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1958.[12] Sixty years later, the single re-entered the Hot 100 chart at number 45 (on the week ending January 5, 2019), reaching an overall peak position of number 10 on the week ending January 2, 2021, following its third chart re-entry, becoming Berry's third top-ten hit and his first since 1972's "My Ding-a-Ling". In doing so, it broke the record for the longest climb to the top 10 since its first entry in December 1958, at 62 years and two weeks.[13][14]
Berry's original version first made the UK Singles Chart on the week ending Christmas Day 1963, peaking at number 36 two weeks later (with the song's title misspelled as "Run Rudolf Run").[15]
โก Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Notes
^There is some debate about authorship.[4][5] The original record credited authorship to Berry's music company (Chuck Berry Music, Inc.) and Brodie. Only in subsequent releases did the writing credits go to Marks and Brodie[2] (and even then, this was not always the case, as multiple later releases by the label credited the song simply to Berry).[5] Marks was the songwriter of the thematically similar, but musically different, song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer".[6] All cover versions of "Run Rudolph Run" by other artists have since credited the song to Marks and Brodie (as published by Marks's St. Nicholas Music (ASCAP)).[7] Berry's song "Little Queenie" - recorded during the same session as "Run Rudolph Run", and which was musically similar to, but lyrically different from, "Run Rudolph Run"[5] - was released shortly after "Run Rudolph Run", in 1959. In it, the song never listed Marks or Brodie as a songwriter,[7] only Berry's music company or Berry himself.[8][5]
^ ab"Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run". Allmusic.com. AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Run Rudolph Run
^"Run Rudolph Run". Songfacts.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. ...Rudolph is copyrighted, and Berry had to give the publishing rights to Johnny Marks, who wrote the original Rudolph. Perhaps if Berry had used "Randolph" (another reindeer he mentions), he could have kept the publishing. That's what the makers of the British TV special Robbie the Reindeer did.
^ abc"ACE Repertory - JOHNNY MARKS". Ascap.com. Retrieved 11 December 2019. (ASCAP's complete catalogue listing for Johnny Marks. "Run Rudolph Run" is listed. "Little Queenie" is not.)
^"Chuck Berry - Little Queenie". Allmusic.com. AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Little Queenie - Composed by Chuck Berry
^"ฤNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparรกda โ Radio Top 100 Oficiรกlna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 5152. tรฝden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
^"ฤNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparรกda โ Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiรกlna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 51+52. tรฝden 2023 in the date selector. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
