Getty PicturesChris Rea, the musician behind the festive traditional Driving House for Christmas, has died on the age of 74.
The singer died on Monday in hospital following a brief sickness, a spokesperson for his household mentioned.
An announcement on behalf of his spouse and two youngsters learn: “It’s with immense unhappiness that we announce the loss of life of our beloved Chris.
“He handed away peacefully in hospital earlier in the present day following a brief sickness, surrounded by his household.”
The blues-influenced star had a string of hits included Auberge, On the Seaside, Idiot (If You Suppose It is Over), Let’s Dance and Street to Hell.
Paying tribute on X, Middlesborough FC mentioned: “We’re deeply saddened to study of the passing of Chris Rea. A Teesside icon. Relaxation in peace, Chris.”
Rea’s Eighties smash Driving House for Christmas tells the story of a weary traveller making his method residence in heavy site visitors.
This 12 months, it has been delivered to new audiences because the backdrop to the M&S Meals Christmas advert.
Getty PicturesIn 2020, the singer’s social media platforms posted a chat between the Rea and his pal and fellow Middlesbrough native comic Bob Mortimer, explaining how he got here to write down the monitor.
Rea mentioned he was on the dole on the time, his supervisor had simply left him and he had been banned from driving.
His then-girlfriend Joan (who he met after they had been each 16 and went on to marry) needed to choose him up in London in her mini and drive him residence.
That is what impressed the music, which was written in 1978, 10 years earlier than it was launched as a single in 1988.
Requested about what he thinks of when he hears the music, the singer joked about the way it purchased him “that pretty little vacation within the Maldives”.
The music has since been coated by artists together with Engelbert Humperdinck and Stacey Solomon.
Rea was good mates with Mortimer and in 1997 they recorded Let’s Dance for Middlesbrough Soccer Membership’s FA Cup Last.
On Monday night, Mortimer posted on X: “So so unhappy. A stunning good humorous big of a bloke. Oh Man… RIP Chris… Boro legend ceaselessly. Like to household and mates.”
However alongside the singer-songwriter’s success, he had suffered with numerous bouts of ill-health over time.
He had his pancreas eliminated just a few years after being identified with pancreatic most cancers on the age of simply 33 in 1994, which meant he developed kind 1 diabetes. He later had a stroke in 2016.
The star by no means forgot his roots, telling Saga journal final 12 months: “I’ve all the time had a tough relationship with fame, even earlier than my first sickness.
“None of my heroes had been rock stars. I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards as soon as and thought I used to be going to bump in to individuals who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. However I used to be surrounded by pop stars.”
He added: “The celeb factor has gone completely improper within the sense that everybody has tried to high one another. They do not put the work in.”
Talking of his spouse in the identical interview, he mentioned: “Our golden second is every morning when there may be an elbow combat over whose flip it’s to make the espresso.
“Then there are the massive mugs of recent espresso, BBC Breakfast information or Sky and we gaze out of the window over the countryside for an hour and we’re nonetheless 16. We’re fortunate to nonetheless have that feeling.”
Rea was born in 1951 in Middlesbrough to an Italian father and Irish mom, and had six siblings. He started his working life serving to out along with his household’s ice-cream enterprise.
“To be Irish Italian in a espresso bar in Middlesbrough – I began my life as an outsider,” he later mentioned.
Getty PicturesAs soon as he discovered the guitar, he quickly started taking part in in numerous bands and launched his debut album No matter Occurred To Benny Santini? in 1978.
His industrial breakthrough got here within the Eighties, as two of his studio albums – The Street To Hell (1989) and Auberge (1991) – went to primary within the UK.
He returned to his blues roots in his later years whereas dealing with his well being challenges.
After his stroke 9 years in the past, he recovered to launch a brand new album, Street Songs For Lovers, in 2017.
He took the album on the street on the finish of that 12 months however needed to cancel quite a lot of reveals after he collapsed mid-song whereas performing on the New Theatre in Oxford.
Rea launched a brand new album in October 2025, titled The Christmas Album, that includes a remaster of Driving House For Christmas in addition to different festive tracks.
Paying tribute to Rea following his loss of life, journalist Tony Parsons described him as a “high man” and “massively underrated songwriter”.
TV persona Lizzie Cundy, who appeared within the music video for a 2009 model of Driving House For Christmas, mentioned that she was “so unhappy” to listen to the musician had died.
“I beloved each minute and was an honour to work with him and be in his iconic music video,” she mentioned. “He’ll all the time be an inspiration and legend to me.”
Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, mentioned he was “very saddened” to listen to the information of Rea’s loss of life.
In a submit on X, he mentioned: “Chris, a most cherished son of Middlesbrough, will reside on by his great music. My honest condolences to his household.”
Rea and his spouse Joan shared two daughters, Josephine and Julia. He credited his household with serving to him to manage after his ailing well being.
“It is music and household with me. I am solely one in every of 4, that is how I’m,” Rea as soon as mentioned. “I am 25% of a unit. It is all the time been that method and we prefer it that method. In between that there is music.”
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