Chris Rea, the British singer-songwriter whose hits included Driving Home For Christmas, has died at the age of 74, a spokesperson for his family said.
The statement said that he died “peacefully in hospital … following a short illness”.
Rea blended blues, pop, soul and soft rock on 25 studio albums, featuring hits including The Road to Hell, taken from a UK No 1 album of the same name; Driving Home for Christmas, a perennial seasonal favourite; and tracks such as On the Beach and Josephine that earned popularity in the Balearic dance scene. He sold more than 30m albums.
He was born in 1951 in Middlesbrough to an Italian father and Irish mother, and had six siblings. “To be Irish Italian in a coffee bar in Middlesbrough – I started my life as an outsider,” he later said.
Rea found fame in the seventies and eighties with songs such as Fool (If You Think It's Over), and Let's Dance.
His debut album - titled Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?, a reference to the stage name his record label wanted him to adopt - was released in 1978. The track Fool (If You Think It's Over) went on to be nominated for a Grammy.
He had his first number one album in 1989 with The Road to Hell, and album Auberge released in 1991 also charted at number one.
But he became synonymous with December with the festive hit Driving Home for Christmas, first released in 1986.
