Chris Rea, the English rock and blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, has died art the age of 74. The news was confirmed in a short statement posted on Rea's social media pages.
"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Chris, who died peacefully earlier today following a short illness," read the statement. "Chris’s music has created the soundtrack to many lives, and his legacy will live on through the songs he leaves behind."
Rea was born in Middlesbrough in the North of England in 1951, but didn't pick up the guitar until his early twenties, inspired by blues and early rock'n'roll pioneers like Charlie Patton, Willie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, as well as contemporaries like Ry Cooder and Joe Walsh.
After a series of false starts, Rea signed with Magnet Records and released his debut album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? in June 1978, which included Fool (If You Think It's Over), his biggest US hit. Rea wasn't happy with the single, having intended it to be a Memphis blues instead of the easy listening classic it became.
“I signed a record contract that was the only one available to me at the time," he told Classic Rock in 2017. "I signed with the wrong record company for what I wanted to do, and I’ve been playing catch-up ever since."
After a series of albums that made Rea a star in Europe, his UK breakthrough came with 1986's On The Beach and the following year's Dancing With Strangers, before 1989's multi-platinum The Road to Hell made him a superstar, with the title track and perennial festive favourite Driving Home For Christmas becoming hit singles.
Throughout his career, Rea faced significant health issues. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1984, aged just 33, suffered stomach ulcers the following year, and underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy – a procedure that removes cancerous tumours from the pancreas – in 2000. And in 2016, he suffered a stroke.
“Boy, that was a big shock," he told Classic Rock. "When I first got home, I couldn’t play slide guitar. It was horrific. Very scary moment. I couldn’t play F major 7th. I got it into my head that my perception of pitch had gone with the stroke. And it took a lot of convincing from people saying there’s nothing wrong with what you’re playing."
Rea recovered enough to record and tour, but was still feeling the effects of the stroke a year later when he collapsed onstage at a show in Oxford, having completed 35 shows of a 37-date European tour. Prior to each show, Rea would undergo three hours of therapy on his hand.
"I'm fine when I'm sitting down, I've just got a little bit of balance," he said. "It's a bit dodgy, just in case anyone thinks I'm drunk on-stage."
Despite all the health battles, Rea never lost his initial enthusiasm for the music that got him started, and his final album, One Fine Day, was released in 2019.
"I’m happy to be here," he told Classic Rock. "I really am. And y’know, if you lose your pancreas and you’re on morphine for sixteen weeks in hospital, then you can say: ‘What’s wrong with me singing the blues?’"
