Chris Rea

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

Chris Rea
Chris Rea performing in the Warsaw Congress Hall, February 2012
Chris Rea performing in the Warsaw Congress Hall, February 2012
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Anton Rea
Born (1951-03-04) 4 March 1951 (age 73)
Middlesbrough, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active1973–present
Labels
Websitewww.chrisrea.com

Christopher Anton Rea (/ˈriːə/ REE-ə; born 4 March 1951)[1] is an English rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five studio albums, two of which topped the UK Albums Chart, The Road to Hell in 1989 and its successor, Auberge, in 1991.[2][3][4][5] He had already become "a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10" with the single "The Road to Hell (Part 2)".[2]

Over the course of his long career, Rea's work has at times been informed by his struggles with serious health issues.[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]

Rea 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]

  1. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 800–801. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  2. ^ a b Roberts, David (2005). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 60. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  3. ^ Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. pp. 354–355. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Scott, Danny (3 December 2017). "Me and My Motor: singer Chris Rea". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  6. ^ Yates, Henry (3 October 2017). "How Chris Rea became rock's ultimate survivor". Classic Rock.
  7. ^ Gregory, Andy, ed. (2002). The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Psychology Press. p. 424. ISBN 978-1857431612.
  8. ^ "George Michael wins British Male presented by Noel Edmonds | BRIT Awards 1988". BritAwards channel (YouTube.com). 10 December 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Phil Collins wins British Male presented by Joe Elliot & Joan Armatrading | BRIT Awards 1989". BritAwards channel (YouTube.com). 3 December 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Phil Collins wins British Male presented by Kim Wilde | BRIT Awards 1990". BritAwards channel (YouTube.com). 3 December 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Chris Rea". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2022.