<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Music video </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> "Rudolph the Red - Nosed Reindeer" (audio) on YouTube </Td> </Tr> <P> "Rudolph, the Red - Nosed Reindeer" is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red - Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company . Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949 . </P> <P> In 1939 Marks's brother - in - law, Robert L. May, created the character Rudolph as an assignment for Montgomery Ward and Marks decided to adapt the story of Rudolph into a song . </P>

When was rudolph the red nosed reindeer song released