Chris Rea is a British singer and songwriter. A kind of "chip" of the performer was a hoarse voice and playing the slide guitar. The blues compositions of the singer in the late 1980s drove music lovers crazy all over the planet.
"Josephine", "Julia", Let's Dance and Road to Hell are some of Chris Rea's most recognizable tracks. When the singer decided to leave the stage due to a long illness, the fans were hysterical, because they understood that he was unique and inimitable. The singer heard the plea of the "fans" and after overcoming the disease, he again returned to his beloved work.
Childhood and youth of Christopher Anthony Rea
Christopher Anthony Rea was born on March 4, 1951 in Middlesbrough (UK). The musician has repeatedly said that he had an incredibly happy childhood. He was brought up in a friendly, large family, in which the head of the family worked as an ice cream man.
My father owned a cold dessert factory. He had several of his own shops. At one time, Christopher's father immigrated to England from Italy. He married Winifred Slee, an Irishwoman. Soon the couple had children, and they celebrated the impression of a happy family.
Christopher was an inquisitive and intelligent child. During his school years, he was able to decide on his future profession. He was interested in journalism. After graduating from school, Chris Rea entered the faculty of St. Mary's College at the Catholic Boys' School in Middlesbrough.
The guy was glad that he had fulfilled his teenage dream. But he was not destined to receive a diploma. The fact is that Christopher was expelled from the first year due to a conflict with the teacher.
From that moment on, Chris realized that you have to fight to stand up for your opinion, and sometimes the fight takes away your dream. He didn't go back to college. Christopher returned to the family and began to help his father expand the business.
Once in the hands of the guy was a record of Joe Walsh. After listening to a few tracks, he fell in love with music. This determined the further fate of Chris. He wanted to buy a guitar. Soon he began to learn instrumental playing.
A few years later, Christopher became part of the Magdalen team. A little later, the group changed their creative pseudonym. The musicians began performing under the name Beautiful Losers.
Despite the fact that the guys played very professionally, the labels were in no hurry to invite them to cooperate. Christopher is not used to go with the flow, so he decided to go on a free "swimming".
The creative path of Chris Rea
In the mid-1970s, fortune smiled on Christopher. He signed with Magnet Records. The singer's discography is replenished with the first studio album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? (1978).
Under the pseudonym Benny Santini, the first producer Dudgen planned to promote his ward. But Rea wanted to perform under his own name, simply shortening the name Christopher to his usual Chris.
The released compilation glorified the track Fool If You Think It Over. The composition entered the British top 30, and in the United States of America the song took 12th position in the charts. The track was nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
Critics speculated that Chris Rea's career should take off after a meteoric rise. But they were wrong. A real black streak has come in the career of the performer. The next four albums weren't good enough.
Chris Rea's Popularity
The label was already ready to say goodbye, but Chris worked a little and pleased the fans with his fifth studio album. We are talking about the Water Sign collection. The presented album was released in 1983. The record proved popular in Europe thanks to the track I Can Hear Your Heart Beat. In a few months, about half a million copies of the albums were sold.
In 1985, Chris Rea again found himself on the wave of popularity. It's all to blame - the presentation of the compositions Stains by Girls and Josephine from the collection Shamrock Diaries.
Finally, music lovers were able to appreciate Chris Rea's vocal abilities - a pleasantly hoarse voice, sincere lyrics, soft guitar sound in rock ballads. Christopher managed to compete with such popular stars as Bill Joel, Rod Stewart and Bruce Springsteen.
In 1989, Chris presented the single The Road to Hell. The track was included in the album of the same name. From that moment on, Christopher became a world-class star. His popularity has spread beyond the UK. The new collection has reached platinum status. From that moment on, one can only dream of a calm and measured life. Chris Rea has toured all over the world, released videos and recorded new tracks.
The British performer at one time traveled the whole world. Including he visited the territory of the Soviet Union. The singer is connected with the USSR by the musical composition Gonna Buy A Hat. The track was written in 1986. The British singer dedicated the composition to Mikhail Gorbachev.
Chris Rea: early 1990s
The 1990s began no less successfully for the singer. The artist's discography has been replenished with a new album. The collection was called Auberge. This period was remembered by fans with the compositions Red Shoes and Looking for the Summer.
Despite the fact that in the early 1990s Christopher was already an international star, the musician wanted to develop further. During this period, the British artist decided to record a record, accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
In the mid-1990s, a new format compilation was released. To Christopher's surprise, the work was rather coolly received by fans and music critics. The fact that the musician began to have health problems added fuel to the fire.
The artist overcame the disease and was not going to leave the stage. Soon the singer's discography was replenished with another album, The Blue Cafe. The new work was highly appreciated by critics and "fans".
In the late 1990s, the musician released tracks with an electronic sound. Chris Rea is in the right direction. The following compilations The Road to Hell: Part 2, King of the Beach with an updated blues sound became an excellent example of the fact that you can change yourself without changing yourself.
It was not the best period in the life of Christopher. The fact is that the musician was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For some time he was forced to leave the stage.
As a result of prolonged treatment, Chris Rea managed to defeat a terrible disease. The musician has repeatedly said that he is grateful to relatives and friends who were able to support him.
Until 2017, the British artist released 7-8 more records. One of the albums was Blue Guitars, an 11-disc mega-album. The singer did not forget to please the fans with a live performance.
Chris Rea's personal life
As a rule, the personal life of rockers is very diverse and rich. It seems that Chris Rea decided to completely break this stereotype. At the age of 16, he met his fate - Joan Leslie and immediately fell in love. When the young people came of age, they got married.
Two beautiful daughters were born in the family - the eldest Josephine and the youngest Julia. Despite the fact that Joan was married to a wealthy man, she tried to realize her potential.
All her life, the woman worked as an art critic and still teaches at one of the colleges in London. The singer tried never to deprive his family of attention. The organizers knew that Chris was performing for three days in a row, and spends the weekend with his family.
“I am not in the habit of leaving my home for more than a week. It's not that I want to look good in the public eye. I love my wife and want to see her to the maximum ... ”, says the singer.
Interesting facts about Chris Rea
- Chris lives with his family away from major cities, in a secluded country house. As a hobby, the musician enjoys gardening and painting.
- The singer is proud that he managed to overcome cancer.
- The performer is fond of racing, he even drove Formula 1 cars. In addition, he honored the memory of the famous racer Ayrton Senna.
- In 2010, the singer auctioned a piece of paper. While stuck in traffic, he recorded the newly composed lyrics of Road to Hell. He donated the proceeds to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
- The musical composition of The Blue Cafe sounded in the series "Detective Szymanski".
Chris Rea today
In the winter of 2017, Chris Rea fell at a concert in Oxford while performing. The incident shocked the audience. The musician was hospitalized because he was seriously injured.
The musician spent almost the whole of 2018 on a big tour. Later, Chris Rea announced that he was preparing a compilation, which was released in 2019.
The singer did not disappoint the fans by presenting the album One Fine Day. This album was recorded in 1980, but Chris decided to re-release the collection.
The British singer also announced a limited edition compilation. One Fine Day was originally recorded in 1980 at Chipping Norton Studios and produced by Rea. Never officially released as a single work, the album brought together this collection of songs for the first time. The collection includes not only old, but also new songs.
