Chris Rea, the British singer-guitarist and slide guitar maestro who famously wrote Driving Home For Christmas, has died at the age of 74.
The news was confirmed in a statement issued by a spokesperson for Rea’s family, which said he died peacefully in hospital.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris,” the statement reads. “He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”
Rea’s distinct sonics were showcased across his sweeping catalog. Boasting 25 solo albums – two of which hit Number One in the UK album charts – Rea’s repertoire is packed with beloved hits, including the Grammy-nominated Fool (If You Think It’s Over), Let’s Dance and Looking for Summer.
Of course, one song of Rea’s stood out above all others. Driving Home For Christmas, released in 1988 after it first appeared as a B-side two years earlier, is a Christmas holidays playlist staple. The soundtrack to so many festive seasons, the melancholic cut initially had a modest start to life, but has cropped up on the UK Singles Chart every year since 2007.
His exemplary songwriting skills, soulful vocals and the quiet genius of Driving Home For Christmas somewhat overshadowed Rea’s guitar skills, which are oft-overlooked.
With an essence of Knopfler about his playing, Rea’s deft fingerstyle touch, nimble bends and devastating slide prowess made a true player's player, and an exemplary case study for anyone wishing to inject soul and style to their own playing.
That Rea became such a powerhouse on the guitar is made even more impressive by the fact he was a relatively late bloomer to the instrument. Born in 1951 in Middlesborough, England, Rea had early aspirations of studying to become a journalist before he started to play guitar in his early 20s.
“I didn’t start until I was 21 and most people I know were 13 when they had their first guitar,” he once reflected in an interview with Guitarist. “I missed that time where you sit in your bedroom all day for years and accidentally you’re doing classical training, although you’re not thinking of it that way. It’s not as easy, as you get older, to do all that kind of practice.”
The lightbulb moment for Rea, who was working as a roadie in his early twenties, came when he heard gospel music. The European elements of the gospel blues he heard struck a chord. It wasn’t the pentatonic-style blues imported from Chicago. It was different. And it formed the foundation of who he was as a player.
Despite the late start, Rea cut his teeth on his first guitar, a Hofer Sunburst V3, though later upgraded to Fender Strats – a model with which he became synonymous with. At some point, he crossed paths with a 1962 Fiesta Red lovingly nicknamed ‘Pinky’, which became one of his go-to guitars before it received a signature Fender run at the turn of the century.
The single-coil snap of the Strat was but one part of Rea’s overall sound. The other was the slide, which he first heard about by sheer chance.
“I remember it was ten past three in the afternoon and it was winter, it was getting dark, and it was when the BBC had just started doing Telstar live things from America,” Rea once explained to Guitarist.
“On it came and there’s this record. The satellite thing was a bit cloudy and it was a 78 record and there was compression on the radio, so it was this strange kind of musical blur with this voice coming through: Charley Patton.
“On that night I told the bass player of one of the local bands that I’d heard this record and it sounded weird, it sounded like a violin. He said, ‘No, it’s not a violin, it’s a slide guitar.’ I thought, ‘What’s one of them?’”
The rest was history. Rea pinched his older sister’s nail varnish bottle, which he fashioned into a slide, and set to work.
Rea achieved peak success in the 1980s. It was in 1978 that the idea for Driving Home For Christmas was born, inspired by a long-distance car journey Rea and his wife took, after Rea had come to the end of his record deal and parted ways with his manager.
“I'd look across at the other drivers, who all looked so miserable,” he once said (via BBC). Jokingly, I started singing, 'We're driving home for Christmas...' then, whenever the street lights shone inside the car, I started writing down the lyrics.
"It's one of those moments that songwriters get – sometimes you can spend years and years writing. That one was five to 10 minutes. When you have a successful song, you don't remember thinking about it – it just comes out.”
Though Rea begged his record company not to release it when he came round to recording it a few years later, Driving Home For Christmas became his most enduring and endearing song.
Rea is survived by his wife Joan, and their daughters Josephine and Julia.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
