Chris Rea

Middlesbrough

Christopher Anton Rea was born in Middlesbrough on 4 March 1951, one of seven children of an Italian father, Camillo Rea, and an Irish mother, Winifred Slee. The family ran an ice cream factory and a chain of cafes in the town. He came to music late: he said he did not touch a guitar until he was 22, when he bought a 1961 Hofner V3 and a small Laney amplifier and taught himself slide. He found Charley Patton by chance on his mother's radio, and named Blind Willie Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ry Cooder and Joe Walsh among his influences.

In 1973 he joined Magdalene, a local band David Coverdale had just left for Deep Purple, and then formed The Beautiful Losers, who won Melody Maker's award for best newcomers that year. Magnet Records signed him as a solo artist in 1974, and the band split in 1977.

Fool, and the lean years

His debut, Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? (1978), was produced by Gus Dudgeon. Its single Fool (If You Think It's Over), which Rea said he first wrote with Al Green in mind, reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Deltics, Tennis and a self-titled album followed.

By Water Sign (1983) the label would not pay for a new record, so Rea released tracks meant as demos, and he later said he was ready to quit and open an Italian restaurant. A call to Magnet from an Irish fan asking for a concert led to strong Irish sales and a tour. Wired to the Moon (1984), with its title track, became his first British Top 40 album. He then concentrated on touring continental Europe, and credited his West German audience with saving his career.

Ireland, Europe and The Road to Hell

Shamrock Diaries (1985), written during a long stay in Ireland, held Stainsby Girls, for his wife Joan, and Josephine, for his daughter. It was a big seller in Europe and opened his commercial peak. On the Beach followed in 1986, the year Driving Home for Christmas first appeared, and Dancing with Strangers reached number two in Britain in 1987. New Light Through Old Windows (1988) re-recorded his older songs and went triple platinum.

Moving to WEA, he made The Road to Hell (1989) in about four weeks. It went to number one, and its second part was his first British Top 10 single. Auberge (1991) also reached number one, with a painting of his Caterham Seven on the cover. Rea raced cars and wrote Saudade for Ayrton Senna.

Illness and the blues

God's Great Banana Skin and Espresso Logic kept him in the Top 10, but stomach ulcers in 1994 and peritonitis in 1995 were followed later by pancreatic surgery. He wrote and produced the film La Passione (1996), and from the early 2000s he turned towards the blues. In 2002 he founded his own label, Jazzee Blue, and released Dancing Down the Stony Road. Blue Guitars (2005) ran to eleven CDs and 137 tracks.

A stroke in 2016 slurred his speech and reduced the movement in his arms and fingers. He still made Road Songs for Lovers (2017) and toured it, until he collapsed on stage at the New Theatre Oxford on 9 December 2017. It was his last concert.

Legacy

Chris Rea died in hospital in Berkshire on 22 December 2025, aged 74, after a short illness. He sold more than 30 million records. Driving Home for Christmas returned to the British Top 10 in 2021 and again after his death. Josephine and On the Beach found a second life on the dance floors of Ibiza and helped shape the Balearic sound. Classic Rock called him rock's most misunderstood star. His guitarist Paul Casey and former bassist Eoghan O'Neill now tour his songs as The Chris Rea Experience, a project begun with his blessing.