Chris Rea, singer of ‘Driving Home for Christmas’, dies at 74

Chris Rea, an English singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his festive hit ‘Driving Home For Christmas’, has died aged 74 following a short illness, his family said on Monday.

Hailing from Middlesbrough, a port town in northeast England, Rea’s song ‘Fool’ (If You Think It’s Over) from his debut studio album in 1978 was his biggest chart hit, reaching the US billboard Hot 100 and earning him a Grammy nomination.

He released 25 studio albums and sold more than 40 million records worldwide in a career spanning five decades, cementing his reputation as one of Britain’s most prominent pop artists.

‘Driving Home for Christmas’, written during a snowy journey when he was unemployed and released in 1986, became a seasonal staple in Britain, re-entering UK charts annually and featuring in festive advertising campaigns.

“My manager had just left me, I’d just been banned from driving, my now wife, Joan, she had to drive down to London, pick me up in the mini and take me home, and that’s when I wrote it,” Rea said in a video clip posted on Instagram last week.

The song was used this year in a Christmas-season ad campaign by retailer M&S.

A motor-racing enthusiast, Rea took part in the 1993 British Touring Car Championship as a guest driver. Two of his album covers, ‘Auberge’ in 1991 and ‘The Best of Chris Rea’ in 1994, featured cars.

Rea battled serious health issues in later years, including pancreatic cancer in the 1990s and early 2000s, and a stroke in 2016, which left him with slurred speech and reduced movement in his arms and fingers.

But he continued recording and touring, releasing his last album ‘One Fine Day’ in 2019.

He is survived by his wife, who he met when they were both teenagers, and two daughters.

His family said he died peacefully in hospital after a short illness, describing their loss as “immense”.