A new Spanish-language version of Brenda Lee's holiday hit 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' was released on Friday (October 25), using “responsibly trained” artificial intelligence to do the translation. A perennial hit for 66 years and counting, “Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree” is the longest-running song to be translated into a new language using AI.
Released via MCA Nashville/Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), “Noche Buena y Navidad” was revamped by four-time Latin Grammy Award-winning producer Auero Baqueiro. Baqueiro first translated the lyrics from English to Spanish, trying to match the same phonetic and rhyming structure that made sense for the Spanish, while retaining the original lyrical themes from the original English version. He then enlisted Chilean-born, Los Angeles-based singer Leyla Hoyle to sing the vocals in Spanish in a way that would capture Lee's unique vocal patterns, including intricacies such as phrasing, pitch and breaths.
Baquiero ultimately kept the original music and background vocals and, once Hoyle recorded the raw Spanish vocals, used AI to map Lee's voice over Hoyle's performance. The translation was made possible using SoundLabs AI's MicDrop technology, a “responsibly trained” AI audio plugin that allows users to switch their voices with another voice or instrument.
The new AI translation arrives just in time for the holiday season. Despite being released in 1958, Lee's “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree” is more popular than ever. Last year, her song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and stayed at the top for three consecutive weeks.
Lee is not the first artist to use AI to translate her work. In May 2023, HYBE debuted a new K-pop artist, MIDNATT, who used AI to release his first single in six different languages. In November 2023, indie-pop artist Lauv released an AI translation of his single “Love U Like That” in Korean as a nod to his strong fan base in the country. Similarly to “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree”, a bilingual human songwriter, Kevin Woo, translated the lyrics of “Love U Like That” into Korean. After Woo sang through the song, Lauv's voice was layered over his vocals using the AI voice platform Hooky.
Finally, country icon Randy Travis made headlines in May 2024 for using AI voice technology to record a new single, “Where That Came From,” after his vocal abilities were severely diminished in a near-fatal stroke a decade earlier.
The Spanish version of 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' is the first release from the Universal Music Group (UMG) and SoundLabs partnership, which was announced in June 2024. The AI company was founded by software developer and electronic artist BT and is said to be “responsibly” trained. The partnership is part of UMG's “responsible AI initiative,” as defined by the company's CEO/chairman Lucian Graingewhich includes “forging[ing] pioneering private sector partnerships with AI technology companies'.
“I'm so excited by this new Spanish version of 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree,' which was created with the help of artificial intelligence,” Lee said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I've performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I've never recorded Rockin' in Spanish, which I'd love to do. Getting it out now is incredible and I'm happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”
“We are thrilled to be working with Brenda Lee to make 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' the first classic song to be responsibly translated into another language with the power of artificial intelligence,” added the UMe president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff. “We're also very excited about the potential of this emerging technology and look forward to harnessing its potential to showcase new material created and approved by our artists.”
“The moment you hear Brenda Lee's iconic voice on 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, you know it's the official start of Christmas,” said the president/CEO of UMG Nashville. Cindy Mabe. “The global success has touched people all over the world and kept this young 13-year-old's Christmas spirit captured in a time capsule. We are all so excited for this new Spanish version created with the help of artificial intelligence from this legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself to celebrate this enduring, timeless classic.”
