British singer, composer, and guitarist Chris Rea, author of the famous hit "The Road to Hell," has died. The musician was 74 years old. His death was reported by a family representative, noting that Chris Rea died in hospital after a short illness.
Chris Rea. Photo: AP Photo/dapd, Eckehard Schulz
Chris Rea was born in 1951 in Middlesbrough into a family with Italian-Irish roots. He began his music career in the 1970s and gained true global popularity in the late 1980s – early 1990s. Throughout his career, the artist released 25 studio albums, with total sales exceeding 30 million copies worldwide.
Among Chris Rea's most famous songs are "The Road to Hell," "Driving Home for Christmas," "On the Beach," "Josephine," "Fool (If You Think It’s Over)," and "Auberge." The song "Driving Home for Christmas" eventually became one of the most popular Christmas songs in the UK.
The musician achieved his greatest commercial success in the late 1980s: the albums "Dancing with Strangers," "The Road to Hell," and "Auberge" topped the British charts, with two of them leading the sales rankings. In the 2000s, Chris Rea increasingly focused on a blues sound.
In his final years, the musician had serious health problems. In the early 2000s, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and in 2016, he suffered a stroke.
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