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Wikipedia

Chris Rea

January 13, 2023

For other people named Christopher Rea, see Chris Rea (rugby union) and Christopher G. Rea.

Christopher Anton Rea (/ˈriːə/ REE-ə; born 4 March 1951)[1] is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough. A "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart" known for his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums, two of which topped the UK Albums Chart.[2][3][4] Described as "rock's ultimate survivor", given his recovery from several bouts of serious illness, Rea was "a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10" with his single "The Road to Hell (Part 2)".[5][6] The album, The Road to Hell (1989), topped the album chart, as did its successor, Auberge (1991).[6] His many hit songs include "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat", "Stainsby Girls", "Josephine", "On the Beach", "Let's Dance", "Driving Home for Christmas", "Working on It", "Tell Me There's a Heaven", "Auberge" and "Julia". He also recorded a duet with Elton John, "If You Were Me".[7] Rea was nominated three times for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist: in 1988, 1989 and 1990.[8][9][10]

Chris Rea
Chris Rea performing in the Warsaw Congress Hall, February 2012
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Anton Rea
Born (1951-03-04) 4 March 1951 (age 71)
Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • musician
  • songwriter
  • composer
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active1973–present
Labels
Websitewww.chrisrea.com

He has never toured the United States, where he is best known for the 1978 single "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, earning him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1978. A decade later, "Working On It" topped the Mainstream Rock chart. He has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.[11]

Biography

Early life

Christopher Rea was born on 4 March 1951 in Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire to an Italian father, Camillo Rea (died December 2010) originating from Arpino in the Province of Frosinone,[12][13][14][15] and an Irish mother, Winifred K. Slee (died September 1983),[16][17] as one of seven children.[18][19] His family were of the Roman Catholic faith.[20] The name Rea was well known locally thanks to his father's ice cream factory and café chain.[2][12][21] When he was twelve, he worked clearing tables in the coffee bar and making ice cream in the factory. He wanted to improve the business, but his ideas got no support from his father. After leaving, he was replaced by one of his brothers.[22] At that time he wanted to be a journalist and attended St Mary's College, Middlesbrough.[23]

Rea bought his first guitar in his early twenties, a 1961 Hofner V3 and 25-watt Laney amplifier[19][24][25][26] He played primarily "bottleneck" guitar, also known as slide guitar. Rea's playing style was inspired by Charlie Patton whom he had heard on the radio. He had initially thought Patton's playing sounded like a violin.[24][27][25] Rea was also influenced by Blind Willie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe[27] as well as by the playing of Ry Cooder and Joe Walsh.[24][28] He was also listening to Delta blues musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson II and Muddy Waters,[29] gospel blues,[25] and opera to light orchestral classics to develop his style.[18] He recalls that "for many people from working-class backgrounds, rock wasn't a chosen thing, it was the only thing, the only avenue of creativity available for them",[29] and that "when I was young I wanted most of all to be a writer of films and film music. But Middlesbrough in 1968 wasn't the place to be if you wanted to do movie scores".[29] Due to his late introduction to music and guitar playing, Rea commented that when compared to Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton, "I definitely missed the boat, I think".[24] He was self-taught,[26] and soon tried to join a friend's group, The Elastic Band, as the first choice for guitar or bass. Heeding his father's advice he did not join as his potential earnings would not be enough to cover the costs of being in the group. As a result, he found himself working casual labouring jobs, including working in his father's ice cream business.[30] Rea commented that, at that time, he was "meant to be developing my father's ice-cream cafe into a global concern, but I spent all my time in the stockroom playing slide guitar".[27]

1973–1982: Early career and "Fool (If You Think It's Over)"

In 1973 he joined the local Middlesbrough band, Magdalene, which earlier had included David Coverdale who had left to join Deep Purple.[2][19][26][31] He began writing songs for the band and took up singing only because the singer in the band failed to show up for a playing engagement.[19] Rea then went on to form the band The Beautiful Losers which received Melody Maker's Best Newcomers award in 1973. He secured a solo recording deal with independent Magnet Records,[28] and released his first single entitled "So Much Love" in 1974.[32] The band itself split up in 1977.[30][33] In 1977 he performed on Hank Marvin's album The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate and also guested on Catherine Howe's EP The Truth of the Matter.[1] He recorded his first album that same year, but according to Michael Levy (co-founder of Magnet) the recordings were literally burned and started over again because it did not capture his whole talent.[34]

Debut album

Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, Rea's debut studio album, was released in June 1978, produced by Gus Dudgeon.[35] The title referred to a stage name that Rea had suggested when the record label insisted that his given name did not sound "croony" enough.[1][29] It peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 200, and charted for 12 weeks.[36] The lead single, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", was Rea's biggest hit in the US, reaching No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart, and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.[37][38] As Rea gave Magnet Records its first major breakthrough and its first US Top-10, he was their biggest artist, the more so when he was nominated at the 21st Annual Grammy Awards as Best New Artist.[39][40] Levy remembers him as "more of a thoughtful, introspective poet than a natural pop performer" which Levy felt stopped Rea from becoming a bigger star.[34] Few of Rea's early singles charted in the UK. Fool... performed modestly on its second release in late 1978, prompted by its strong performance in the US, and that stateside success also led to Rea being categorized as a piano-playing singer-songwriter, similar to Elton John and Billy Joel, rather than the guitar player he is.[6] For several years, Magnet marketed him based on this misconception.[24] Rea says that it "is still the only song I've ever not played guitar on, but it just so happened to be my first single".[24] Rea has "always had a difficult relationship with fame, even before my first illness. None of my heroes were rock stars. I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump into people who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. But I was surrounded by pop stars".[41] Throughout his career Rea has emphatically rejected the label of "rock star".[42][43]

Subsequent early albums

Dudgeon also produced Rea's second album Deltics (1979). Rea recorded his self-produced third album, Tennis (1980), with musicians from Middlesbrough, and it received positive reviews.[30] As both albums had failed commercially, Magnet rejected the artwork Rea wanted for the cover of his fourth album, 1981's Chris Rea (produced by Jon Kelly, who later oversaw Rea's most successful albums).[30] None of these albums reached the Top 50 in the UK, with his singles also delivering lacklustre performances. Diamonds reached No. 44 in the US, and Loving You went to No. 88 on the Billboard Hot 100.[44][45] Rea had a difficult working relationship with Dudgeon and the other "men in suits" who he felt "smoothed out" the blues-influenced elements of his music.[29][46][30] Rea "always thought that [producers] knew best. I never thought for a minute that they might have another agenda", but "all of a sudden I was the goose that laid the golden egg, and it was hell for me".[27] He ruefully acknowledges, "I can't blame anyone but myself. I gave them what they wanted rather than what I wanted".[47]

1983–1988: European breakthrough

Water Sign and Shamrock Diaries

 
Chris Rea in the 1980s

From 1983, Rea's music began to better reflect his wishes and capabilities, despite pressure from his record company due to the accumulated costs of the production for his first four albums. To keep costs low, the label decided to release the demo tapes of his fifth studio album Water Sign. It was the first of several successful albums Rea collaborated with producer David Richards on. He also changed managers and went on a UK club tour, followed by a 60-date tour as a support act for Canadian band Saga.[30] Water Sign performed far better than Rea or his team expected in Ireland and Europe, selling over half a million copies in just a few months.[30] The single I Can Hear Your Heartbeat charted in Europe.[32] With the album's success along with that of the subsequent Wired to the Moon (1984), which was his first Top 40 album in the UK (reaching No. 35), Rea began to focus his attention on touring continental Europe and building up a fan base.[48] He established a loyal following in West Germany, and believes this audience saved his career as there was no "image-led market", but only "by music and by word of mouth".[30] It was not until 1985's million-selling Shamrock Diaries, with its hit singles Stainsby Girls and Josephine, written for his wife and daughter respectively, that UK audiences began to take notice of him.[30][48]

On the Beach and Dancing with Strangers

His international fame grew with the million-selling studio albums On The Beach (1986), and Dancing with Strangers (1987) which reached No. 2 on the UK albums chart, behind Michael Jackson's Bad, and which included his first Top 20 UK single, "Let's Dance", which reached No. 12.[48][2][30] In 1986, Rea was a support act along with The Bangles and The Fountainhead for Queen at Slane Concert for an estimated 80,000 audience.[49] He also performed at Milano Suono festival at stadium San Siro, Italy.[50][51] By 1987, Rea was finally in a position to pay off the £320,000 debt he owed to the record company, and started to make significant earnings.[42] He signed with Warners, who also bought Magnet Recordings.[52] That year, the Dancing with Strangers world tour sold out stadium-sized venues, including two shows at Wembley Arena, and included Rea's first concerts in Australia and Japan.[30][53][34] Rea's American label, Tamla Motown, had told him that should go to America and tour there for three years. Out of deference to his family, he did not do so. He commented that at the time he realized that "I could be as big as I liked, if I was prepared to do the touring".[30]

New Light Through Old Windows

Rea's next album was his first compilation - albeit an unconventional one, as most songs were new versions of older releases. New Light Through Old Windows (1988) was another million seller, climbing to No. 5 in the UK.[48] The album included re-workings of some his charting singles, as well a reworking of as his recent single "Driving Home for Christmas".[2] Some of the tracks were successful in the US, including Working On It, which reached No. 73 on Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Mainstream Rock chart.[37][54] The re-recorded version of On the Beach reached the Top 10 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 12 in the UK.[48] The album's release and success was followed by an international tour with over 45 dates.[30][55]

1989–1994: Chart dominance, The Road to Hell and Auberge

Rea's tenth studio album was his major breakthrough.[2] The Road to Hell (1989) enjoyed massive success and became his first No. 1 album in the UK, being certified 6× Platinum by the BPI in 2004.[56] While the album peaked at No. 107 in the US, the single The Road to Hell (Part 2) climbed to No. 11 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, and was Rea's first and only UK Top 10 single.[57][58][48] The song Texas achieved extensive radio airplay in the state itself. In December 1989, Rea performed on the Band Aid II single "Do They Know It's Christmas?"[2] In 1991, Auberge repeated its predecessor's success, reaching No. 1 in the UK albums chart, and was another hit across Europe. The single of the same title made the UK Top 20.[48] Even at the peak of his success, Rea refused to mount an American tour or perform on MTV Unplugged, although he was a guest on Late Night with David Letterman, and also performed on the show.[59][60] Rea said his neglect of the US market was one of his biggest mistakes because "every time I see a car that's too much money, I definitely regret it, just for five minutes".[42]

After Auberge, Rea released God's Great Banana Skin (1992) which reached No. 4 in the UK, while the single Nothing to Fear gave him another Top 20 hit.[2][48] A year later the album Espresso Logic made the Top 10 and Julia, written about his second daughter, gave him his sixth and last Top 20 single.[48] The album was partly promoted by Rea's taking part in the non-Championship "TOCA Shootout" round of the 1993 British Touring Car Championship, although he was eliminated in the first round.[2] In 1994 another compilation album, The Best of Chris Rea, was released which peaked at No. 3 in UK.[48] That July, Rea performed with Peter Gabriel and others at Sonoria festival in Milan.[61]

1995–2005: Recovery from illness, return to blues roots and Blue Guitars

In 1994 Rea had developed stomach ulcers[62] The following year, he "got peritonitis and nearly died. Facing the prospect of never singing, touring or performing in public again, he characteristically embarked on a radical career shift and went into movies."[29] 1996 saw the release of the soundtrack album for La Passione, which Rea also wrote and produced. Two years later in 1998 The Blue Cafe, his fourteenth studio album, followed. It reached the UK Top Ten and received extremely positive reviews and a tour named The Blue Cafe Tour followed to promote the album. In 1999, ten years after The Road to Hell, the dance and electronica infused The Road to Hell: Part 2 failed to reach the UK Top 40. Rea rebounded in 2000, when King of the Beach made it to the UK Top 30.[48]

Rea was first "diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of just 33".[63] In 2000, he underwent a Whipple procedure,[27][47][64][65] which resulted in the removal of the head of the pancreas and part of the duodenum, bile duct, and gall bladder.[26] Since having this surgery Rea has had problems with diabetes and a weaker immune system, necessitating the need to take thirty-four pills and seven injections a day.[66] He has undergone several subsequent operations.[26] Nevertheless, he found greater appreciation for life, his family, and the things he loves.[26][67]

In an interview, he said, "it's not until you become seriously ill and you nearly die and you're at home for six months, that you suddenly stop, to realize that this isn't the way I intended it to be in the beginning. Everything that you've done falls away and you start wondering why you went through all that rock business stuff."[26] A record company offered him millions of dollars to do a duets album with notable artists.[18] Having promised himself that if he recovered he would return to his blues roots,[27] he started the record label Jazzee Blue to free himself from his then current company's expectations. The first album under this label, Dancing Down the Stony Road (2002), reached No. 14[48] and was certified Gold by the BPI.[18][26][27] He wanted the label to be a place "where musicians came and made a record" of this style of music. Jazzee Blue released several blues and jazz albums mostly by members of his then current band.[68] He was disappointed with the music business when Michael Parkinson, who supported him to do Dancing Down the Stony Road, told him songs longer than three minutes were not played as often on radio anymore.[42]

In 2003, Rea released Blue Street (Five Guitars) and Hofner Blue Notes, and The Blue Jukebox the following year.[26] 2005 saw the release of Blue Guitars, a box set of 11 CDs containing 137 blues-inspired tracks with Rea's paintings as album covers, which is a once in a lifetime ambitious project about the history of blues music.[41][69][70] Rea said, "I was never a rock star or pop star and all the illness has been my chance to do what I'd always wanted to do with music [...] the best change for my music has been concentrating on stuff which really interests me".[41]

2006–2015: Continuation of blues albums and tours

 
Rea playing his Fender Stratocaster "Pinky" at the Congress Hall in Warsaw, 2012

In February 2008, Rea released The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes, dedicated to the 1960s Höfner guitars, with 38 tracks on three CDs and two 10" vinyl records - the vinyl replicated the tracks contained on the first CD of the set. The box set also included a hardback book of his paintings along with period photos.[26] The release of the album was followed by a European tour,[71] visiting various venues across the UK, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.[72] Part of the tour was recorded and released as a live DVD and his first live album, The Road to Hell & Back, to positive reviews.[73][74]

Rea released the compilation Still So Far to Go in October 2009 which contained some of his best known (and lesser known) hits over the last thirty years as well as songs from his "blues" period.[41] Two new songs were included, "Come So Far, Yet Still So Far to Go" and the ballad "Valentino".[41] The album reached No. 8[48] and was certified Gold by the BPI. Rea started the European tour called "Still So Far to Go" in January 2010.[41] His special guest on stage was Irish musician Paul Casey. The tour ended on 5 April at Waterfront Hall in Belfast.[41] In September 2011 Santo Spirito Blues box set was released. The set contained two feature-length films on one DVD written and directed by Rea along with three accompanying CDs - two of which featured the music from the DVDs and the third being a stripped back version of the related studio album.[75] Shortly after this release, in October and November, Rea underwent two surgical procedures.[76] On 3 February 2012 the Santo Spirito Tour started at Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany, with additional visits to Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and France. The United Kingdom part of the tour commenced in the middle of March and finished on 5 April at Hammersmith Apollo in London.[75]

November 2014 saw Rea embark on a European tour called The Last Open Road Tour, with the UK part of the tour commencing on 1 December in Manchester and ending on 20 December in London.[77][78] He also performed at the 2014 Montreux Jazz Festival.[79][80]

2016–present: Further illness, recovery, and retrospectives

Rea suffered a stroke in 2016 which left him with slurred speech and reduced movement in his arms and fingers. Soon afterwards he quit smoking to deter further strokes and recovered enough to record and tour.[81] In September 2017, he released his twenty-fourth album, Road Songs for Lovers, and embarked on a European tour starting in October until December.[82][83] On 9 December, Rea collapsed during a performance at the New Theatre Oxford, the 35th concert of the tour.[84] He was taken to hospital where his condition was stabilized.[85] This health issue caused the last two concerts of the tour to be cancelled.[86] In December 2020, Rea guest starred on the Christmas edition of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, where he discussed his health issues over the years.[87][88][89]

On 18 October 2019, Rhino released 2CD deluxe editions of five of Chris Rea's most commercially successful albums, Shamrock Diaries,[90] On The Beach,[91] Dancing With Strangers,[92] The Road To Hell,[93] and Auberge.[94] Each contains a remastered version of the original album on the first disc, and remixes, rare and previously unreleased live tracks, single edits, and extended versions on the bonus disc. On 4 October, One Fine Day had been released, limited to 1000 numbered copies. The album contains tracks recorded in 1980 at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, most of which had never been released.[95] On 20 November 2020, the triple CD compilation Era 1: 1978 - 1984 was released. It contains a mix of A-sides, B-sides, foreign language versions and different mixes, as well as all of One Fine Day on disc 2.[96][97]

Musicianship

Guitars

 
Rea playing his Italia Maranello "Bluey" at the Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, 2010

Rea's first guitar was a Höfner V3 or 173 which he bought in a second-hand shop because, at the time, there were not that many shops in Middlesbrough where one could purchase a guitar.[27] He played the V3 until 1979, although, by Rea's reckoning, it was a "dreadful guitar with an appalling action, but playing slide it didn't matter".[98] During his career the guitar most associated with him was a 1962 Fender Stratocaster which he called "Pinky". Rea bought the instrument after seeing a Ry Cooder concert at the City Hall in Newcastle. The guitar once was submerged in water for three months and was more mellow in sound compared to the classic hard Stratocaster sound. Since 2002 Dancing Down the Stony Road, his main guitar was an Italia Maranello he named "Bluey".[25][98]

Filmography

One of his childhood dreams was to become a film writer and film music composer.[19][29] Rea wrote the title track and music score for the 1993 drama film Soft Top Hard Shoulder.[99][100] He wrote and produced the 1996 film La Passione, partially inspired by Rea's childhood experience of falling in love with motor racing and F1 Ferrari's driver Wolfgang von Trips.[2][101] Rea was the lead actor in the 1999 comedy film Parting Shots, alongside Felicity Kendal, John Cleese, Bob Hoskins and Joanna Lumley.[19] Rea, ironically, played a character who was told that cancer gave him six weeks to live and decided to kill those people who had badly affected his life.[2][19] Afterwards, two feature-length films were made for the Santo Spirito Blues project, just "so that I could do the music".[19]

References in lyrics

Rea has acknowledged that several of his songs were "born out of Middlesbrough", his hometown. The verse "I'm standing by a river, but the water doesn't flow / It boils with every poison you can think of" from "The Road to Hell",[26] the songs "Steel River" which refers to a nickname for the River Tees,[102][103] and "Windy Town,[26] reflect Rea's feelings about the industrial decline of Middlesbrough and the re-development of the town centre while he was out of the country touring through the years:

"I went back to see my father after my mother had died and [they] had knocked the whole place down. I'd been gone three years, hard touring in Europe. I literally went to drive somewhere that wasn't there. It was like a sci-fi movie. The Middlesbrough I knew, it's as if there was a war there 10 years ago."[30][104]

"I miss the bits of Middlesbrough that aren't there any more. It's very hard to accept that Ayresome Park no longer exists. I know I sound very old when I say things like that. Those terraced streets are no longer there. But I miss the old character of the place, the guys with the fruit barrows and all that."[26]

Personal life

Health

In 1994, Rea was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent a life-saving operation to remove his pancreas, gallbladder, and a portion of his liver. As a result, he has type 1 diabetes.[105]

Family life

Rea is married to Joan Lesley, with whom he has been in a relationship since they met as teenagers on 6 April 1968 in their native Middlesbrough.[30][41] They have two daughters, Josephine, born 16 September 1983, and Julia Christina, born 18 March 1989.[24] Josephine lectures on Renaissance art in Florence and Julia studied at the University of St Andrews.[67] Rea used to live at Cookham, Berkshire,[52] where he owned Sol Mill Recording Studios and produced some of his later albums.[26][27] When he is not writing songs, other interests particularly include painting.[42][67][69][106] Rea says that he likes to "read a lot and even though I chose music, journalism was my first passion. I wanted to be a journalist and write about car racing [...] somewhere deep down I believe I could have been a decent journalist".[76]

Cars and motor racing

 
Chris Rea racing in his Lotus 6 at the Goodwood Revival 2009

Rea is a fan of historic motor racing and races a Ferrari Dino,[66] a Ferrari 328,[107] and a 1955 Lotus 6.[107][108][109] In 1993, he participated in the 1993 British Touring Car Championship ToCa shootout as a guest driver.[110] He owned and raced the 1964 Lotus Elan 26R,[107][111][112] and the well known Caterham 7 from the Auberge album cover,[113] until it was sold in 2005 with all proceeds (£11,762) going to the charity NSPCC.[114] He also owned the Ferrari 330 which was used as a donor car for the replica of Ferrari 250 Le Mans used in the 1996 movie La Passione.[115] In 2014, he was completing a 22-year restoration of an original replica of a Ferrari 156 Sharknose Formula One racing car.[24] He also joined Historic Racing Drivers Club, where he drives a 1957 Morris Minor 1000 police car.[81]

He has taken the opportunity to get involved in Formula One on a few occasions, including as a pit lane mechanic for the Jordan team during the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix.[101] He recorded a song, "Saudade", in tribute to three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna. It featured prominently in the BBC documentary movie.[116]

Politics

Between August 2008 and April 2010, some major newspapers erroneously reported that Rea had supported and donated tens of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party.[117][118][119] The donations were in fact made by a businessman called Chris Rea and not the musician.[120] In an interview in 2012, Rea denied those claims and noted that this was a good example of how dangerous the internet can be at spreading misinformation.[76]

In a 2017 interview, amid the 2017 general election, Rea supported Jeremy Corbyn and even wrote a song called "What's So Wrong With A Man Who Tells The Truth?", saying "in the old way, Corbyn is useless. Because he says the wrong things. But the young people have had enough".[43] Rea considers that the politicians and government of the UK and EU became out of touch with the common people.[76] He is sceptical about the idea of unification of Europe because with a common European market "you [...] force different people to live together [when] they simply do not want to",[76] recalling the downfall of Yugoslavia.[76]

Discography

Main article: Chris Rea discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

References

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January 13, 2023
chris, other, people, named, christopher, rugby, union, christopher, christopher, anton, born, march, 1951, english, rock, blues, singer, guitarist, from, middlesbrough, gravel, voiced, guitar, stalwart, known, slide, guitar, playing, recorded, twenty, five, s. For other people named Christopher Rea see Chris Rea rugby union and Christopher G Rea Christopher Anton Rea ˈ r iː e REE e born 4 March 1951 1 is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough A gravel voiced guitar stalwart known for his slide guitar playing Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums two of which topped the UK Albums Chart 2 3 4 Described as rock s ultimate survivor given his recovery from several bouts of serious illness Rea was a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with his single The Road to Hell Part 2 5 6 The album The Road to Hell 1989 topped the album chart as did its successor Auberge 1991 6 His many hit songs include I Can Hear Your Heartbeat Stainsby Girls Josephine On the Beach Let s Dance Driving Home for Christmas Working on It Tell Me There s a Heaven Auberge and Julia He also recorded a duet with Elton John If You Were Me 7 Rea was nominated three times for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist in 1988 1989 and 1990 8 9 10 Chris ReaChris Rea performing in the Warsaw Congress Hall February 2012Background informationBirth nameChristopher Anton ReaBorn 1951 03 04 4 March 1951 age 71 Middlesbrough North Riding of Yorkshire EnglandGenresPop rock soft rock electric blues blues rockOccupation s Singer musician songwriter composerInstrument s Vocals guitar pianoYears active1973 presentLabelsMagnet East West Edel Warner Rhino Jazzee BlueWebsitewww wbr chrisrea wbr com He has never toured the United States where he is best known for the 1978 single Fool If You Think It s Over which reached No 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at No 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart earning him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1978 A decade later Working On It topped the Mainstream Rock chart He has sold more than 40 million records worldwide 11 Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 1973 1982 Early career and Fool If You Think It s Over 1 2 1 Debut album 1 2 2 Subsequent early albums 1 3 1983 1988 European breakthrough 1 3 1 Water Sign and Shamrock Diaries 1 3 2 On the Beach and Dancing with Strangers 1 3 3 New Light Through Old Windows 1 4 1989 1994 Chart dominance The Road to Hell and Auberge 1 5 1995 2005 Recovery from illness return to blues roots and Blue Guitars 1 6 2006 2015 Continuation of blues albums and tours 1 7 2016 present Further illness recovery and retrospectives 2 Musicianship 2 1 Guitars 2 2 Filmography 2 3 References in lyrics 3 Personal life 3 1 Health 3 2 Family life 3 3 Cars and motor racing 3 4 Politics 4 Discography 4 1 Studio albums 4 2 Compilation albums 5 References 6 External linksBiography EditEarly life Edit Christopher Rea was born on 4 March 1951 in Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire to an Italian father Camillo Rea died December 2010 originating from Arpino in the Province of Frosinone 12 13 14 15 and an Irish mother Winifred K Slee died September 1983 16 17 as one of seven children 18 19 His family were of the Roman Catholic faith 20 The name Rea was well known locally thanks to his father s ice cream factory and cafe chain 2 12 21 When he was twelve he worked clearing tables in the coffee bar and making ice cream in the factory He wanted to improve the business but his ideas got no support from his father After leaving he was replaced by one of his brothers 22 At that time he wanted to be a journalist and attended St Mary s College Middlesbrough 23 Rea bought his first guitar in his early twenties a 1961 Hofner V3 and 25 watt Laney amplifier 19 24 25 26 He played primarily bottleneck guitar also known as slide guitar Rea s playing style was inspired by Charlie Patton whom he had heard on the radio He had initially thought Patton s playing sounded like a violin 24 27 25 Rea was also influenced by Blind Willie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe 27 as well as by the playing of Ry Cooder and Joe Walsh 24 28 He was also listening to Delta blues musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson II and Muddy Waters 29 gospel blues 25 and opera to light orchestral classics to develop his style 18 He recalls that for many people from working class backgrounds rock wasn t a chosen thing it was the only thing the only avenue of creativity available for them 29 and that when I was young I wanted most of all to be a writer of films and film music But Middlesbrough in 1968 wasn t the place to be if you wanted to do movie scores 29 Due to his late introduction to music and guitar playing Rea commented that when compared to Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton I definitely missed the boat I think 24 He was self taught 26 and soon tried to join a friend s group The Elastic Band as the first choice for guitar or bass Heeding his father s advice he did not join as his potential earnings would not be enough to cover the costs of being in the group As a result he found himself working casual labouring jobs including working in his father s ice cream business 30 Rea commented that at that time he was meant to be developing my father s ice cream cafe into a global concern but I spent all my time in the stockroom playing slide guitar 27 1973 1982 Early career and Fool If You Think It s Over Edit In 1973 he joined the local Middlesbrough band Magdalene which earlier had included David Coverdale who had left to join Deep Purple 2 19 26 31 He began writing songs for the band and took up singing only because the singer in the band failed to show up for a playing engagement 19 Rea then went on to form the band The Beautiful Losers which received Melody Maker s Best Newcomers award in 1973 He secured a solo recording deal with independent Magnet Records 28 and released his first single entitled So Much Love in 1974 32 The band itself split up in 1977 30 33 In 1977 he performed on Hank Marvin s album The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate and also guested on Catherine Howe s EP The Truth of the Matter 1 He recorded his first album that same year but according to Michael Levy co founder of Magnet the recordings were literally burned and started over again because it did not capture his whole talent 34 Debut album Edit Whatever Happened to Benny Santini Rea s debut studio album was released in June 1978 produced by Gus Dudgeon 35 The title referred to a stage name that Rea had suggested when the record label insisted that his given name did not sound croony enough 1 29 It peaked at No 49 on the Billboard Hot 200 and charted for 12 weeks 36 The lead single Fool If You Think It s Over was Rea s biggest hit in the US reaching No 1 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart and No 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 37 38 As Rea gave Magnet Records its first major breakthrough and its first US Top 10 he was their biggest artist the more so when he was nominated at the 21st Annual Grammy Awards as Best New Artist 39 40 Levy remembers him as more of a thoughtful introspective poet than a natural pop performer which Levy felt stopped Rea from becoming a bigger star 34 Few of Rea s early singles charted in the UK Fool performed modestly on its second release in late 1978 prompted by its strong performance in the US and that stateside success also led to Rea being categorized as a piano playing singer songwriter similar to Elton John and Billy Joel rather than the guitar player he is 6 For several years Magnet marketed him based on this misconception 24 Rea says that it is still the only song I ve ever not played guitar on but it just so happened to be my first single 24 Rea has always had a difficult relationship with fame even before my first illness None of my heroes were rock stars I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump into people who mattered like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman But I was surrounded by pop stars 41 Throughout his career Rea has emphatically rejected the label of rock star 42 43 Subsequent early albums Edit Dudgeon also produced Rea s second album Deltics 1979 Rea recorded his self produced third album Tennis 1980 with musicians from Middlesbrough and it received positive reviews 30 As both albums had failed commercially Magnet rejected the artwork Rea wanted for the cover of his fourth album 1981 s Chris Rea produced by Jon Kelly who later oversaw Rea s most successful albums 30 None of these albums reached the Top 50 in the UK with his singles also delivering lacklustre performances Diamonds reached No 44 in the US and Loving You went to No 88 on the Billboard Hot 100 44 45 Rea had a difficult working relationship with Dudgeon and the other men in suits who he felt smoothed out the blues influenced elements of his music 29 46 30 Rea always thought that producers knew best I never thought for a minute that they might have another agenda but all of a sudden I was the goose that laid the golden egg and it was hell for me 27 He ruefully acknowledges I can t blame anyone but myself I gave them what they wanted rather than what I wanted 47 1983 1988 European breakthrough Edit Water Sign and Shamrock Diaries Edit Chris Rea in the 1980s From 1983 Rea s music began to better reflect his wishes and capabilities despite pressure from his record company due to the accumulated costs of the production for his first four albums To keep costs low the label decided to release the demo tapes of his fifth studio album Water Sign It was the first of several successful albums Rea collaborated with producer David Richards on He also changed managers and went on a UK club tour followed by a 60 date tour as a support act for Canadian band Saga 30 Water Sign performed far better than Rea or his team expected in Ireland and Europe selling over half a million copies in just a few months 30 The single I Can Hear Your Heartbeat charted in Europe 32 With the album s success along with that of the subsequent Wired to the Moon 1984 which was his first Top 40 album in the UK reaching No 35 Rea began to focus his attention on touring continental Europe and building up a fan base 48 He established a loyal following in West Germany and believes this audience saved his career as there was no image led market but only by music and by word of mouth 30 It was not until 1985 s million selling Shamrock Diaries with its hit singles Stainsby Girls and Josephine written for his wife and daughter respectively that UK audiences began to take notice of him 30 48 On the Beach and Dancing with Strangers Edit His international fame grew with the million selling studio albums On The Beach 1986 and Dancing with Strangers 1987 which reached No 2 on the UK albums chart behind Michael Jackson s Bad and which included his first Top 20 UK single Let s Dance which reached No 12 48 2 30 In 1986 Rea was a support act along with The Bangles and The Fountainhead for Queen at Slane Concert for an estimated 80 000 audience 49 He also performed at Milano Suono festival at stadium San Siro Italy 50 51 By 1987 Rea was finally in a position to pay off the 320 000 debt he owed to the record company and started to make significant earnings 42 He signed with Warners who also bought Magnet Recordings 52 That year the Dancing with Strangers world tour sold out stadium sized venues including two shows at Wembley Arena and included Rea s first concerts in Australia and Japan 30 53 34 Rea s American label Tamla Motown had told him that should go to America and tour there for three years Out of deference to his family he did not do so He commented that at the time he realized that I could be as big as I liked if I was prepared to do the touring 30 New Light Through Old Windows Edit Rea s next album was his first compilation albeit an unconventional one as most songs were new versions of older releases New Light Through Old Windows 1988 was another million seller climbing to No 5 in the UK 48 The album included re workings of some his charting singles as well a reworking of as his recent single Driving Home for Christmas 2 Some of the tracks were successful in the US including Working On It which reached No 73 on Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Mainstream Rock chart 37 54 The re recorded version of On the Beach reached the Top 10 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and No 12 in the UK 48 The album s release and success was followed by an international tour with over 45 dates 30 55 1989 1994 Chart dominance The Road to Hell and Auberge Edit Rea s tenth studio album was his major breakthrough 2 The Road to Hell 1989 enjoyed massive success and became his first No 1 album in the UK being certified 6 Platinum by the BPI in 2004 56 While the album peaked at No 107 in the US the single The Road to Hell Part 2 climbed to No 11 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and was Rea s first and only UK Top 10 single 57 58 48 The song Texas achieved extensive radio airplay in the state itself In December 1989 Rea performed on the Band Aid II single Do They Know It s Christmas 2 In 1991 Auberge repeated its predecessor s success reaching No 1 in the UK albums chart and was another hit across Europe The single of the same title made the UK Top 20 48 Even at the peak of his success Rea refused to mount an American tour or perform on MTV Unplugged although he was a guest on Late Night with David Letterman and also performed on the show 59 60 Rea said his neglect of the US market was one of his biggest mistakes because every time I see a car that s too much money I definitely regret it just for five minutes 42 After Auberge Rea released God s Great Banana Skin 1992 which reached No 4 in the UK while the single Nothing to Fear gave him another Top 20 hit 2 48 A year later the album Espresso Logic made the Top 10 and Julia written about his second daughter gave him his sixth and last Top 20 single 48 The album was partly promoted by Rea s taking part in the non Championship TOCA Shootout round of the 1993 British Touring Car Championship although he was eliminated in the first round 2 In 1994 another compilation album The Best of Chris Rea was released which peaked at No 3 in UK 48 That July Rea performed with Peter Gabriel and others at Sonoria festival in Milan 61 1995 2005 Recovery from illness return to blues roots and Blue Guitars Edit In 1994 Rea had developed stomach ulcers 62 The following year he got peritonitis and nearly died Facing the prospect of never singing touring or performing in public again he characteristically embarked on a radical career shift and went into movies 29 1996 saw the release of the soundtrack album for La Passione which Rea also wrote and produced Two years later in 1998 The Blue Cafe his fourteenth studio album followed It reached the UK Top Ten and received extremely positive reviews and a tour named The Blue Cafe Tour followed to promote the album In 1999 ten years after The Road to Hell the dance and electronica infused The Road to Hell Part 2 failed to reach the UK Top 40 Rea rebounded in 2000 when King of the Beach made it to the UK Top 30 48 Rea was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of just 33 63 In 2000 he underwent a Whipple procedure 27 47 64 65 which resulted in the removal of the head of the pancreas and part of the duodenum bile duct and gall bladder 26 Since having this surgery Rea has had problems with diabetes and a weaker immune system necessitating the need to take thirty four pills and seven injections a day 66 He has undergone several subsequent operations 26 Nevertheless he found greater appreciation for life his family and the things he loves 26 67 In an interview he said it s not until you become seriously ill and you nearly die and you re at home for six months that you suddenly stop to realize that this isn t the way I intended it to be in the beginning Everything that you ve done falls away and you start wondering why you went through all that rock business stuff 26 A record company offered him millions of dollars to do a duets album with notable artists 18 Having promised himself that if he recovered he would return to his blues roots 27 he started the record label Jazzee Blue to free himself from his then current company s expectations The first album under this label Dancing Down the Stony Road 2002 reached No 14 48 and was certified Gold by the BPI 18 26 27 He wanted the label to be a place where musicians came and made a record of this style of music Jazzee Blue released several blues and jazz albums mostly by members of his then current band 68 He was disappointed with the music business when Michael Parkinson who supported him to do Dancing Down the Stony Road told him songs longer than three minutes were not played as often on radio anymore 42 In 2003 Rea released Blue Street Five Guitars and Hofner Blue Notes and The Blue Jukebox the following year 26 2005 saw the release of Blue Guitars a box set of 11 CDs containing 137 blues inspired tracks with Rea s paintings as album covers which is a once in a lifetime ambitious project about the history of blues music 41 69 70 Rea said I was never a rock star or pop star and all the illness has been my chance to do what I d always wanted to do with music the best change for my music has been concentrating on stuff which really interests me 41 2006 2015 Continuation of blues albums and tours Edit Rea playing his Fender Stratocaster Pinky at the Congress Hall in Warsaw 2012 In February 2008 Rea released The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes dedicated to the 1960s Hofner guitars with 38 tracks on three CDs and two 10 vinyl records the vinyl replicated the tracks contained on the first CD of the set The box set also included a hardback book of his paintings along with period photos 26 The release of the album was followed by a European tour 71 visiting various venues across the UK including the Royal Albert Hall in London 72 Part of the tour was recorded and released as a live DVD and his first live album The Road to Hell amp Back to positive reviews 73 74 Rea released the compilation Still So Far to Go in October 2009 which contained some of his best known and lesser known hits over the last thirty years as well as songs from his blues period 41 Two new songs were included Come So Far Yet Still So Far to Go and the ballad Valentino 41 The album reached No 8 48 and was certified Gold by the BPI Rea started the European tour called Still So Far to Go in January 2010 41 His special guest on stage was Irish musician Paul Casey The tour ended on 5 April at Waterfront Hall in Belfast 41 In September 2011 Santo Spirito Blues box set was released The set contained two feature length films on one DVD written and directed by Rea along with three accompanying CDs two of which featured the music from the DVDs and the third being a stripped back version of the related studio album 75 Shortly after this release in October and November Rea underwent two surgical procedures 76 On 3 February 2012 the Santo Spirito Tour started at Congress Center Hamburg in Hamburg Germany with additional visits to Poland Russia Ukraine Hungary Switzerland Netherlands Belgium and France The United Kingdom part of the tour commenced in the middle of March and finished on 5 April at Hammersmith Apollo in London 75 November 2014 saw Rea embark on a European tour called The Last Open Road Tour with the UK part of the tour commencing on 1 December in Manchester and ending on 20 December in London 77 78 He also performed at the 2014 Montreux Jazz Festival 79 80 2016 present Further illness recovery and retrospectives Edit Rea suffered a stroke in 2016 which left him with slurred speech and reduced movement in his arms and fingers Soon afterwards he quit smoking to deter further strokes and recovered enough to record and tour 81 In September 2017 he released his twenty fourth album Road Songs for Lovers and embarked on a European tour starting in October until December 82 83 On 9 December Rea collapsed during a performance at the New Theatre Oxford the 35th concert of the tour 84 He was taken to hospital where his condition was stabilized 85 This health issue caused the last two concerts of the tour to be cancelled 86 In December 2020 Rea guest starred on the Christmas edition of Mortimer amp Whitehouse Gone Fishing where he discussed his health issues over the years 87 88 89 On 18 October 2019 Rhino released 2CD deluxe editions of five of Chris Rea s most commercially successful albums Shamrock Diaries 90 On The Beach 91 Dancing With Strangers 92 The Road To Hell 93 and Auberge 94 Each contains a remastered version of the original album on the first disc and remixes rare and previously unreleased live tracks single edits and extended versions on the bonus disc On 4 October One Fine Day had been released limited to 1000 numbered copies The album contains tracks recorded in 1980 at Chipping Norton Recording Studios most of which had never been released 95 On 20 November 2020 the triple CD compilation Era 1 1978 1984 was released It contains a mix of A sides B sides foreign language versions and different mixes as well as all of One Fine Day on disc 2 96 97 Musicianship EditGuitars Edit Rea playing his Italia Maranello Bluey at the Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam 2010 Rea s first guitar was a Hofner V3 or 173 which he bought in a second hand shop because at the time there were not that many shops in Middlesbrough where one could purchase a guitar 27 He played the V3 until 1979 although by Rea s reckoning it was a dreadful guitar with an appalling action but playing slide it didn t matter 98 During his career the guitar most associated with him was a 1962 Fender Stratocaster which he called Pinky Rea bought the instrument after seeing a Ry Cooder concert at the City Hall in Newcastle The guitar once was submerged in water for three months and was more mellow in sound compared to the classic hard Stratocaster sound Since 2002 Dancing Down the Stony Road his main guitar was an Italia Maranello he named Bluey 25 98 Filmography Edit One of his childhood dreams was to become a film writer and film music composer 19 29 Rea wrote the title track and music score for the 1993 drama film Soft Top Hard Shoulder 99 100 He wrote and produced the 1996 film La Passione partially inspired by Rea s childhood experience of falling in love with motor racing and F1 Ferrari s driver Wolfgang von Trips 2 101 Rea was the lead actor in the 1999 comedy film Parting Shots alongside Felicity Kendal John Cleese Bob Hoskins and Joanna Lumley 19 Rea ironically played a character who was told that cancer gave him six weeks to live and decided to kill those people who had badly affected his life 2 19 Afterwards two feature length films were made for the Santo Spirito Blues project just so that I could do the music 19 References in lyrics Edit Rea has acknowledged that several of his songs were born out of Middlesbrough his hometown The verse I m standing by a river but the water doesn t flow It boils with every poison you can think of from The Road to Hell 26 the songs Steel River which refers to a nickname for the River Tees 102 103 and Windy Town 26 reflect Rea s feelings about the industrial decline of Middlesbrough and the re development of the town centre while he was out of the country touring through the years I went back to see my father after my mother had died and they had knocked the whole place down I d been gone three years hard touring in Europe I literally went to drive somewhere that wasn t there It was like a sci fi movie The Middlesbrough I knew it s as if there was a war there 10 years ago 30 104 I miss the bits of Middlesbrough that aren t there any more It s very hard to accept that Ayresome Park no longer exists I know I sound very old when I say things like that Those terraced streets are no longer there But I miss the old character of the place the guys with the fruit barrows and all that 26 Personal life EditHealth Edit In 1994 Rea was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent a life saving operation to remove his pancreas gallbladder and a portion of his liver As a result he has type 1 diabetes 105 Family life Edit Rea is married to Joan Lesley with whom he has been in a relationship since they met as teenagers on 6 April 1968 in their native Middlesbrough 30 41 They have two daughters Josephine born 16 September 1983 and Julia Christina born 18 March 1989 24 Josephine lectures on Renaissance art in Florence and Julia studied at the University of St Andrews 67 Rea used to live at Cookham Berkshire 52 where he owned Sol Mill Recording Studios and produced some of his later albums 26 27 When he is not writing songs other interests particularly include painting 42 67 69 106 Rea says that he likes to read a lot and even though I chose music journalism was my first passion I wanted to be a journalist and write about car racing somewhere deep down I believe I could have been a decent journalist 76 Cars and motor racing Edit Chris Rea racing in his Lotus 6 at the Goodwood Revival 2009 Rea is a fan of historic motor racing and races a Ferrari Dino 66 a Ferrari 328 107 and a 1955 Lotus 6 107 108 109 In 1993 he participated in the 1993 British Touring Car Championship ToCa shootout as a guest driver 110 He owned and raced the 1964 Lotus Elan 26R 107 111 112 and the well known Caterham 7 from the Auberge album cover 113 until it was sold in 2005 with all proceeds 11 762 going to the charity NSPCC 114 He also owned the Ferrari 330 which was used as a donor car for the replica of Ferrari 250 Le Mans used in the 1996 movie La Passione 115 In 2014 he was completing a 22 year restoration of an original replica of a Ferrari 156 Sharknose Formula One racing car 24 He also joined Historic Racing Drivers Club where he drives a 1957 Morris Minor 1000 police car 81 He has taken the opportunity to get involved in Formula One on a few occasions including as a pit lane mechanic for the Jordan team during the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix 101 He recorded a song Saudade in tribute to three time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna It featured prominently in the BBC documentary movie 116 Politics Edit Between August 2008 and April 2010 some major newspapers erroneously reported that Rea had supported and donated tens of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party 117 118 119 The donations were in fact made by a businessman called Chris Rea and not the musician 120 In an interview in 2012 Rea denied those claims and noted that this was a good example of how dangerous the internet can be at spreading misinformation 76 In a 2017 interview amid the 2017 general election Rea supported Jeremy Corbyn and even wrote a song called What s So Wrong With A Man Who Tells The Truth saying in the old way Corbyn is useless Because he says the wrong things But the young people have had enough 43 Rea considers that the politicians and government of the UK and EU became out of touch with the common people 76 He is sceptical about the idea of unification of Europe because with a common European market you force different people to live together when they simply do not want to 76 recalling the downfall of Yugoslavia 76 Discography EditMain article Chris Rea discography Studio albums Edit Whatever Happened to Benny Santini Magnet 1978 Deltics Magnet 1979 Tennis Magnet 1980 Chris Rea Magnet 1981 Water Sign Magnet 1983 Wired to the Moon Magnet 1984 Shamrock Diaries Magnet 1985 On the Beach Magnet 1986 Dancing with Strangers Magnet 1987 The Road to Hell WEA 1989 Auberge EastWest 1991 God s Great Banana Skin EastWest 1992 Espresso Logic EastWest 1993 La Passione soundtrack EastWest 1996 The Blue Cafe EastWest 1998 The Road to Hell Part 2 EastWest 1999 King of the Beach EastWest 2000 Dancing Down the Stony Road Stony Road Jazzee Blue 2002 Blue Street Five Guitars Jazzee Blue 2003 Hofner Blue Notes Jazzee Blue 2003 The Blue Jukebox Jazzee Blue 2004 Blue Guitars Jazzee Blue 2005 The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes Jazzee Blue 2008 Santo Spirito Blues Jazzee Blue 2011 Road Songs for Lovers Jazzee Blue 2017 One Fine Day Rhino limited release 2019 Compilation albums Edit New Light Through Old Windows 1988 The Best of Chris Rea 1994 The Very Best of Chris Rea 2001 Heartbeats Chris Rea s Greatest Hits 2005 Chris Rea The Ultimate Collection 1978 2000 2007 Still So Far to Go The Best of Chris Rea 2009 The Journey 1978 2009 2011 ERA 1 As Bs amp Rarities 1978 1984 2020 References Edit a b c Strong Martin C 2000 The Great Rock Discography 5th ed Edinburgh Mojo Books pp 800 801 ISBN 1 84195 017 3 a b c d e f g h i j k Roberts David 1998 Guinness Rockopedia 1st ed London Guinness Publishing Ltd pp 354 355 ISBN 0 85112 072 5 Sinclair David 27 April 2006 Chris Rea The Times Retrieved 13 December 2017 From being a multimillion selling soft rock tunesmith Rea 55 has turned into a hardcore disciple of the electric blues Scott Danny 3 December 2017 Me and My Motor singer Chris Rea The Sunday Times Retrieved 10 December 2017 How Chris Rea became rock s ultimate survivor 3 October 2017 a b c Roberts David 2005 British Hit Singles amp Albums London Guinness World Records Limited p 60 ISBN 1 904994 00 8 Gregory Andy ed 2002 The International Who s Who in Popular Music 2002 Psychology Press p 424 ISBN 978 1857431612 George Michael wins British Male presented by Noel Edmonds BRIT Awards 1988 BritAwards channel YouTube com Retrieved 7 November 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Phil Collins wins British Male presented by Joe Elliot amp Joan Armatrading BRIT Awards 1989 BritAwards channel YouTube com Retrieved 7 November 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Phil Collins wins British Male presented by Kim Wilde BRIT Awards 1990 BritAwards channel YouTube com Retrieved 7 November 2022 Chris Rea Apple Music Retrieved 7 November 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link a b Robson Dave 10 December 2010 Teesside ice cream legend Camillo Rea dies TeessideLive Retrieved 19 April 2014 Pellicciotti Giacomo 12 March 1994 Rea la voce proibita Rea the prohibited voice la Repubblica in Italian Retrieved 22 December 2020 Un teatro quasi tutto esaurito lunedi sera allo Smeraldo ma soprattutto traboccante d entusiasmo per il 43enne cantautore dalle incerte origini Incerte nel senso che suo padre e di Frosinone Italia la mamma irlandese lui e nato in Inghilterra registra i suoi dischi preferibilmente in Francia e in famiglia affiorano perfino ascendenze jugoslave Pellicciotti Giacomo 12 March 1994 Chris Rea collassa sul palco il cantante di Driving Home for Christmas ricoverato in ospedale Chris Rea collapses on the stage the singer of Driving Home for Christmas recovered in hospital Il Gazzettino in Italian Retrieved 22 December 2020 Chris Rea e nato a Middlesbrough da mamma irlandese e papa italiano Camillo Rea originario di Arpino in provincia di Frosinone Cotto Massimo 2017 Rock Therapy Rimedi sotto forma di canzone per ogni malanno o situazione in Italian Marsilio Editori ISBN 978 88 317 4183 5 ha sangue italiano nelle vene il padre Camillo Rea era di Arpino in provincia di Frosinone Winifred K Slee England and Wales Marriage Registration Index 1837 2005 FamilySearch Intellectual Reserve Inc 1944 Retrieved 22 December 2020 Winifred K Slee In Biographical Summaries of Notable People MyHeritage MyHeritage Ltd 1944 Retrieved 22 December 2020 a b c d Shadwick Keith 26 March 2004 Chris Rea Confessions of a blues survivor The Independent Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 28 March 2015 a b c d e f g h Young Graham 5 November 2014 Chris Rea says Birmingham NIA gig will be a holiday from fighting pancreatic cancer Birmingham Post Retrieved 30 March 2015 Westcott Matt 15 March 2012 Chris Rea s long and winding road The Northern Echo Retrieved 10 December 2017 Welford Joanne 23 July 2017 Behind the scenes at Rea s Creamy Ices TeessideLive Retrieved 13 December 2017 Danziger Danny 29 November 1993 The Worst of Times Up to my elbows in ice cream Chris Rea talks to The Independent Retrieved 10 August 2019 Live Teesside 13 October 2005 I will always be a Boro lad gazettelive Retrieved 10 August 2019 a b c d e f g h Singer Chris Rea Coping with not having a pancreas can be pretty awful The Belfast Telegraph 28 November 2014 Retrieved 27 March 2015 a b c d Mead David 15 June 2016 Chris Rea on his guitar origins Strats the blues and La Passione MusicRadar Retrieved 10 December 2017 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Middlesbrough superstar Chris Rea speaks exclusively about recovering from illness and his return to touring ne4me 5 March 2010 Archived from the original on 5 April 2015 Retrieved 27 March 2015 a b c d e f g h i Hodgkinson Will 13 September 2002 Chris Rea interview The Guardian Retrieved 13 December 2017 a b Auf Wiedersehen Pet Q February 1988 p 33 a b c d e f g Walsh John 2 May 1997 The reluctant rocker The Independent Retrieved 28 March 2015 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Du Noyer Paul February 1988 Chris Rea The Underdog s Tale Q Archived from the original on 15 December 2017 Retrieved 14 December 2017 Lazell Barry 1989 Rock movers amp shakers Billboard Publications Inc p 407 ISBN 978 0 8230 7608 6 1973 He becomes a proficient enough guitarist to join local professional band Magdelene whose singer David Coverdale has just left to join Deep Purple and begins to develop his songwriting skills a b Record Collector December 1986 No 88 p 39 Young Graham Smiles Mieka 5 November 2014 I ve had five operations but I just keep going and I m very lucky for that Chris Rea on his long fight against cancer TeessideLive Retrieved 30 March 2015 a b c Levy Michael 2008 A Question of Honour Inside New Labour and the True Story of the Cash for Peerages Scandal Simon and Schuster pp 49 50 69 ISBN 978 1 4165 9824 4 Billboard s Top Album Picks For Week Ending 7 22 78 Billboard Vol 90 no 29 Nielsen Business Media Inc 22 July 1978 p 94 Retrieved 16 December 2017 What Ever Happened To Benny Santini Hot 200 Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 a b Fool If You Think It s Over Hot 100 Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 Fool If You Think It s Over Adult Contemporary Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 Bee Gees Head Lists For 6 Grammy Awards Daytona Beach Morning Journal The News Journal Corporation 9 January 1979 Retrieved 23 April 2010 Grammy Award Results for Chris Rea The Grammys Recording Academy 23 November 2020 Retrieved 22 December 2020 a b c d e f g h Chris Rea past present and future Saga Archived from the original on 5 April 2015 Retrieved 27 March 2015 a b c d e Yates Henry 1 December 2015 An Interview With The Straight Talking No F ks Given Chris Rea TeamRock Retrieved 13 December 2017 a b Yates Henry 3 October 2017 How Chris Rea became rock s ultimate survivor Classic Rock Retrieved 22 December 2020 Diamonds Hot 100 Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 Loving You Hot 100 Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 Auf Wiedersehen Pet Q magazine February 1988 pp 33 4 a b Fletcher Rebecca 28 September 2002 Interview Chris Rea My Road To Hell How a Near Death Experience Made Singer Chris Rea Realise What He Really Wanted out of Life The Mirror Retrieved 31 March 2014 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Official Charts gt Chris Rea The Official UK Charts Company Retrieved 9 January 2017 O Brien Joe 7 July 1986 Queen Take to the Stage in Slane 1986 Raidio Teilifis Eireann Retrieved 10 December 2017 Da stasera grande musica From tonight big music la Repubblica in Italian 16 July 1986 Retrieved 22 December 2020 Assante Ernesto 18 July 1986 Che festa a Milano con la musica nera What a party in Milan with a black music la Repubblica in Italian Retrieved 22 December 2020 a b Sandall Robert 5 March 1991 Sunny side up Q Magazine 55 38 40 Assante Ernesto 3 November 1987 Al successo senza fretta To a success without hurry la Repubblica in Italian Retrieved 22 December 2020 Working On It Mainstream Rock Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 On The Beach Adult Contemporary Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 Chris Rea The Road To Hell BPI Retrieved 13 December 2017 Road To Hell Hot 200 Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 The Road To Hell Mainstream Rock Billboard Retrieved 14 December 2017 Episode dated 25 May 1990 IMDb Retrieved 22 December 2020 Episode dated 5 June 1991 IMDb Retrieved 22 December 2020 Gentile Enzo 11 July 1994 Peter Gabriel per pochi intimi Peter Gabriel for few close friends la Repubblica in Italian Retrieved 22 December 2020 Rock torna Chris Rea Un tour anche in Italia Corriere della Sera in Italian 24 2 February 1998 Retrieved 31 March 2014 Chris Rea on family fame and the key to happiness Saga www saga co uk Chris Rea operato d urgenza tolto il pancreas Corriere della Sera in Italian 34 4 August 2000 Retrieved 31 March 2014 Chris Rea plays North East gigs BBC News 18 March 2010 Retrieved 31 March 2014 a b Martin Gavin 2 October 2009 Chris Rea s fighting fit and raring to go Daily Mirror Archived from the original on 21 October 2013 Retrieved 19 April 2014 a b c Pearce Garth 17 September 2015 Chris Rea on cancer family fame and the key to happiness Saga Retrieved 10 December 2017 Edwards Mark 27 July 2003 Chris Rea Blue Street The Times Retrieved 13 December 2017 a b Gentile Enzo 26 February 2006 Chris Rea Un sogno chiamato blues Chris Rea a dream called blues la Repubblica in Italian Retrieved 22 December 2020 In effetti ultimamente punto alle cose che amo Negli scorsi anni ho dovuto affrontare e combattere una malattia al pancreas che di solito non lascia molti margini di speranza e cosi ho imparato a curarmi poco del business per coltivare invece le cose che realmente mi premono E il blues e un modo naturale per guardarmi intorno e godere di quello che la vita ci riserva E la pittura cos e Un secondo amore e un processo creativo che corre parallelo alla musica I miei quadri sono un prolungamento emotivo un tramite ideale per rilassarmi una specie di complemento per un dilettante assoluto Michiels Karel 29 October 2005 Chris Rea Blue Guitars De geschiedenis van de blues in 11 cd s Chris Rea Blue Guitars The history of the blues in 11 CDs De Standaard in Dutch Retrieved 24 December 2020 Review Chris Rea Newcastle City Hall The Journal 3 April 2008 Archived from the original on 14 December 2017 Retrieved 13 December 2017 Win Tickets To See Chris Rea Uncut 27 February 2008 Retrieved 13 December 2017 Mawer Sharon The Road to Hell amp Back AllMusic Retrieved 22 December 2020 Cordas Alexander 20 October 2006 The Road To Hell And Back The Farewell Tour laut de in German LAUT AG Retrieved 22 December 2020 a b Chris Rea announces Santo Spirito tour Music News 7 February 2012 Retrieved 27 March 2015 a b c d e f Chris Rea There s no escape from the road to Kyiv Weekly 13 February 2012 Archived from the original on 1 October 2015 Retrieved 27 March 2015 Chris Rea Announces December 2014 UK tour gigwise com 8 April 2014 Retrieved 1 August 2014 Johnston Andrew 8 December 2014 Chris Rea review Guitar hero hasn t run out of fuel Belfast Telegraph Retrieved 15 December 2017 Chris Rea distille le blues d un survivant qui sent fort le bourbon 24 heures in French 6 July 2014 Retrieved 10 December 2017 Interviews Chris Rea Montreux Jazz Festival 5 July 2014 Retrieved 10 December 2017 a b Chris Rea on his fight with pancreatic cancer I m never going to be what I used to be Daily Express 24 September 2017 Retrieved 10 December 2017 Robson Dave 24 April 2017 Chris Rea reveals tour dates as he goes back on the road again TeessideLive Retrieved 10 December 2017 Lawrence Dave 22 November 2017 Review Chris Rea Sage Gateshead The Northern Echo Retrieved 15 December 2017 Jenkins Lin 9 December 2017 Chris Rea stable after on stage collapse at Oxford theatre The Guardian Retrieved 10 December 2017 Harley Nicola 10 December 2017 Chris Rea Driving Home For Christmas star stable after falling into a clump on stage The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 10 December 2017 Harding Laura 11 December 2017 Chris Rea cancels another show after collapsing on stage The Independent Retrieved 13 December 2017 Welford Joanne 14 December 2020 Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing hailed as perfect piece of Christmas telly TeessideLive Retrieved 22 December 2020 Smith Adam 19 December 2020 Aidan Smith on TV Lunacy and poignancy in Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse s tales from the riverbank The Scotsman Retrieved 22 December 2020 Kalia Ammar 13 December 2020 TV tonight Mortimer and Whitehouse go Christmas fishing The Guardian Retrieved 22 December 2020 Shamrock Diaries 2CD Deluxe Edition Store rhino co uk On The Beach 2CD Deluxe Edition Store rhino co uk Dancing With Strangers 2CD Deluxe Edition Store rhino co uk The Road To Hell 2CD Deluxe Edition Store rhino co uk Auberge 2CD Deluxe Edition Store rhino co uk One Fine Day 1LP 1CD Package Chris Rea Rhino Store Store rhino co uk Chris Rea Era 1 As Bs amp Rarities 1978 1984 3CD Dig WMIS Ltd Retrieved 24 December 2020 Mann Wojciech 15 December 2020 Recenzja plyty Chris Rea Era 1 As Bs amp Rarities 1978 1984 Album review Chris Rea Era 1 As Bs amp Rarities 1978 1984 Polityka in Polish Retrieved 24 December 2020 a b How I got started Chris Rea The Guitar Magazine 18 March 2016 Retrieved 10 December 2017 Soft Top Hard Shoulder double BAFTA winning comedy starring Peter Capaldi Retrieved 29 December 2013 White Jim 28 January 1993 Hello Is anybody out there Chris Rea Wembley Arena The Independent Retrieved 30 December 2013 a b Warwick Matt 29 May 2016 Monaco GP I saw Senna s glove he d worn through it BBC Sport Retrieved 4 June 2016 Middlesbrough History Englandsnortheast co uk 17 October 1911 Retrieved 19 April 2014 Chris Rea plays North East gigs BBC News 18 March 2010 Retrieved 28 March 2014 Auf Wiedersehen Pet Q February 1988 p 34 Georgina Chanel 22 December 2021 Chris Rea health Driving Home for Christmas singer opens up on health HELL Express co uk Retrieved 18 March 2022 Michiels Karel 5 November 2005 Interview Chris Rea zingt de blues Interview Chris Rea sings the blues De Standaard in Dutch Retrieved 24 December 2020 a b c Widdows Rob September 2009 The Racing Bluesman Motor Sport Retrieved 31 March 2015 The aim is to beat Chris Rea Stirling Moss 25 July 2010 Archived from the original on 16 July 2011 Retrieved 19 April 2014 Chris Rea Forums atlasf1 com Retrieved 19 April 2014 1993 Mansell takes it to the bridge Autosport 1 November 1993 Retrieved 22 December 2020 Historic Race Meeting Donington Park PDF Historic Sports Car Club HSCC 5 April 2009 Archived from the original PDF on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 31 March 2015 1964 Lotus 26R Jan B Luhn Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 31 March 2015 Buckley Martin 11 December 2009 Graham Nearn Engineer and businessman behind the Caterham Seven sports car The Independent Retrieved 31 March 2015 Lot 229 1987 Caterham 7 Sprint Blue Seven Motorbase com Taer limited 29 September 2005 Retrieved 31 March 2015 Standhaft Don Ferrari 250 TRI61 Le Mans DMark Concepts Retrieved 28 March 2014 the career and life of Senna BBC News 1 May 2009 Archived from the original on 7 March 2012 Retrieved 13 January 2012 Kirkup James 28 August 2008 Chris Rea among high profile donors to Conservative Party The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 31 August 2008 Retrieved 19 April 2014 Baldwin Tom Sherwin Adam Simpson Eva 14 November 2009 Not the X Factor more the Why Factor as celebrities snub parties The Times London Tories raise twice the amount of big donations given to Labour in first week of campaign The Guardian London 20 April 2010 Retrieved 19 April 2014 The seal of success Chris Rea agendaNI 10 March 2011 Retrieved 28 March 2015 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Chris Rea Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Rea Official site Chris Rea at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chris Rea amp oldid 1125907069, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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