Coordinates | 38°37′38″N90°11′52″N |
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Name | Chris Rea |
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Background | solo_singer |
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Birth name | Christopher Anton Rea |
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Birth date | March 04, 1951 |
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Origin | Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England |
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Instrument | Vocals, guitar, piano |
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Genre | Pop rock, Soft rock, Blues rock |
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Occupation | Musician, singer-songwriter |
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Years active | 1978–present |
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Associated acts | The Memphis Fireflies |
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Label | Magnet, East West, Edel
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Chris Rea ( ) (born Christopher Anton Rea, 4 March 1951, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England) is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with his 18th chart entry; "The Road to Hell (Part 2)". By 2009, Rea had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
He is well known for his 1978 hit song "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" that charted #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard adult contemporary chart. The song was later covered by Elkie Brooks and was a top 20 hit in the UK.
Although Rea had limited success in the United States, two of his albums, ''The Road to Hell'' and ''Auberge'', topped the UK Albums Chart.
Biography
Early life
Rea was born on 4 March 1951, as the son of a Middlesbrough ice-cream dairy manager. Beyond this, few details of his younger life were known as of February 2011. He attended Stainsby Secondary School which was segregated between girls and boys. (Now called Acklam Grange Secondary School) and it was the influence for his track 'Stainsby Girls' in 1985.
Early career
After leaving school Rea worked in casual labouring jobs, including working in his father's ice cream business. It was at the comparatively late age of 22 that Rea bought his first guitar and began his musical career, inspired by the music of
Joe Walsh and
Ry Cooder. A natural left-hander, Rea nevertheless learned to play the guitar right-handed. In 1973, he joined the Middlesbrough band Magdalene, replacing
David Coverdale who later created
Whitesnake. Rea then went on to form the band Beautiful Losers, which he left when he secured a solo recording deal with
Magnet Records in 1974. 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''.
''Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?'' was Rea's debut album. It was released in June 1978 and produced by Elton John's music producer, Gus Dudgeon. The title of the album was a reference to "Benjamin Santini," the stage name that Rea's record label suggested he should adopt. The first single taken from the album, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," was Rea's biggest hit in the United States, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart. "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy, losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Like most of Rea's early singles, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart on its first release, and only reached #30 when re-released in late 1978 to capitalise on its US achievement. It was also the first record played by Radio Caroline, after a long period off the air. Another cover of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Kenny Craddock was used as the theme tune for BBC sitcom, ''Joking Apart''.
Dudgeon went on to produce Rea's next album, entitled ''Deltics''. Rea has since spoken about the difficult working relationship that he had with Dudgeon at the time, who he felt 'smoothed out' the blues influenced elements of his music in order to make it sound more like that of Elton John or Billy Joel.
Rea's second and third albums failed to provide any further hit singles. By the time his fourth album was released, Rea's relationship with his record company had deteriorated to the extent that it was not even given a title but was simply called "Chris Rea".
European breakthrough
By 1983 Rea's record company had become so uninterested in him that they released the raw
demo tapes as his fifth studio album. The album, entitled "Water Sign", became a surprise hit in Ireland and mainland Europe, selling over half a million in just a few months and the single "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" taken from it entered the top 20 across Europe. In 2002, Rea released ''
Dancing Down the Stony Road'' following recording sessions in France and the UK. (An abridged version of the album was later released under the title ''Stony Road.'') The album was followed by a DVD of the same name, comprising a documentary and footage from a concert in Cologne. Rea set up his own JazzeeBlue label in 2003 to free himself from the pressure of record company expectations. Since then he has released the blues albums ''
Blue Street (Five Guitars)'' (an instrumental jazz-blues album) and then ''
The Blue Jukebox''. He has worked with
David Knopfler for two albums: ''Wishbones'' (2001) and ''Ship of Dreams'' (2004).
''Blue Guitars'' and retirement
Following the release of the
box set, ''Blue Guitars'', in 2005, it was announced that Rea would not record any further solo albums. He has stated that he would continue to make records with some of his favourite players under the name The Memphis Fireflies. A double DVD set and a separate double CD set was released in 2006, including live selections from Rea's farewell tour entitled ''The Road To Hell & Back''.
The return
In November 2007, Rea announced a new tour and a new album featuring 38 new tracks on three CDs and two vinyls, which included a hardback book in the style of a slightly tatty 12" vinyl sleeve. ''
The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes'' (a dedication to the 1960s guitar of the same name) was released in February 2008. In writing the album, Rea dreamed up a band that had never existed — a pastiche instrumental group from the late 1950s called The Delmonts.
The release of the album was followed by a European tour. The band was introduced as "The Delmonts featuring Chris Rea", and played in various venues across the UK, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.
His song "Driving Home for Christmas", which originally reached #53 in the UK chart when first released in 1988, re-entered at #33 nineteen years later in December 2007, making it the first time the song had made the UK Top 40.
In October 2009, Rhino released a new 2-disc best of compilation. ''Still So Far To Go - The Best of Chris Rea'' contained some of his best known hits over the last thirty years, many of them less well known, as well as more recent songs from his "blues" period. There are also two new songs "Come So Far, Yet Still So Far to Go" and the ballad "Valentino", a song about his dog that had died. The album was Rea's highest charting album in 15 years, reaching #8 and staying in the Top 50 for four weeks.
In 2010 Rea performed on a European tour called ''Still So Far to Go''. His special guest on stage was an Irish musician Paul Casey. The tour ended on 5 April in Belfast, United Kingdom.
In September 2011, Chris Rea will release "The Santo Spirito Project" containing two feature-length films on DVD written and directed by Chris and 2 accompanying CDs of related songs and music.
Family life
Rea is the son of Camillo Rea,(died December 2010) an immigrant from Italy and Winifred, of Irish descent (died September 1983). He has two brothers, Nick and Mike, and four sisters, Catherine, Geraldine, Paula and Camille.
He is married to Joan, with whom he has two daughters (Josephine, born 16 September 1983, and Julia Christina, born 18 March 1989). He used to live at Sol Mill in Cookham, Berkshire. This property also contained the Sol Mill Recording Studios where he produced some of his later albums. He also produced albums for other artists such as Sylvin Marc, and Robert Ahwai on his JazeeBlue label. The property was sold in 2006.
The name Rea was well-known locally thanks to the chain of "Rea's Ice Cream" shops owned by Rea's father. In later years the chain folded except for one shop operated by Camillo himself. Chris Rea holds a season ticket with Middlesbrough F.C..
Other interests
Rea is a huge fan of motor racing and races a Ferrari Dino and a 1955 Lotus 6. He recorded a song, "
Saudade," in tribute to three-time Formula One world champion
Ayrton Senna. It featured prominently in the BBC documentary that can be watched in full
here (UK users only) and was released on ''
The Very Best of Chris Rea'' (2001).
Politics
In August 2008, it was erroneously reported that Rea had donated £25,000 to the
Conservative Party. This was followed by further incorrect reports in April 2010, just weeks before the
UK general election, that Rea had donated a further £100,000 to the Conservatives. The donations were in fact made by a businessman called Chris Rea and not the musician. This error has been acknowledged by ''
The Daily Mail'' newspaper, which printed a
retraction. ''
The Times'' reported in 2009 that Rea has been a longtime supporter of the Conservative Party. Rea supported the Conservative Candidate for
Middlesbrough in the
2010 general election by allowing use of his song "Steel River" to highlight the plight of the local Corus steel workers who had lost their jobs.
Films
Rea has also been an actor, playing the lead in the 1999
comedy film, ''
Parting Shots'', alongside
John Cleese,
Bob Hoskins and
Joanna Lumley. Rea 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.
He also had a cameo role in the 1996 film, ''La Passione'', for which he wrote the soundtrack.
References in Rea's lyrics
Rea has acknowledged that many of his songs were 'born out of
Middlesbrough,' his home town. Perhaps the most famous of these is the song "Stainsby Girls," from the album ''
Shamrock Diaries,'' which he wrote and composed in tribute to his wife Joan, who had attended Stainsby Secondary Modern School years before it was renamed
Acklam Grange Secondary School. The song "Steel River," on the same album, reflects Rea's feelings about the re-development of Middlesbrough town centre while he was out of the country touring:
"Steel River" is also another name for the
River Tees. In the song there is a mention of 'salmon who have lost their steel mother' and, in the 1980s, it looked like they were gone for good. However, salmon stocks are slowly beginning to recover.
Discography
''Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?'' (1978)
''Deltics'' (1979)
''Tennis'' (1980)
''Chris Rea'' (1982)
''Water Sign'' (1983)
''Wired to the Moon'' (1984)
''Shamrock Diaries'' (1985)
''On the Beach'' (1986)
''Dancing with Strangers'' (1987)
''The Road to Hell'' (1989)
''Auberge'' (1991)
''God's Great Banana Skin'' (1992)
''Espresso Logic'' (1993)
''La Passione'' (1996)
''The Blue Cafe'' (1998)
''The Road to Hell: Part 2'' (1999)
''King of the Beach'' (2000)
''Dancing Down the Stony Road / Stony Road'' (2002)
''Blue Street (Five Guitars)'' (2003)
''Hofner Blue Notes'' (2003)
''The Blue Jukebox'' (2004)
''Blue Guitars (2005)
''The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes'' (2008)
''
Still So Far To Go: The Best of Chris Rea'' (2009)
''Santo Spirito Blues'' (2011)
References
External links
Official site
Fan site
Fan site
Official site of Rea's record label, JazzeeBlue
IMDb Parting Shots
Interview on the Britsound Radio Show, November 2005
Category:1951 births
Category:Living people
Category:English singer-songwriters
Category:English male singers
Category:English rock singers
Category:English blues singers
Category:English people of Italian descent
Category:British people of Irish descent
Category:English rock guitarists
Category:Slide guitarists
Category:English blues guitarists
Category:People from Middlesbrough
Category:Italian British musicians
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