Chris Rea travelled roads from chart hits to the blues

The late singer-songwriter Chris Rea found fame in the 1970s and 80s with huge hits such as Driving Home for Christmas , Fool (If You Think It's Over) , and Let's Dance . Born to an Irish mother and Italian father in Middlesbrough in 1951, Chris Rea came late to the guitar, not picking one up until he was 21 Chris Rea during a concert at the Tempodrom on 30 October, 2017 in Berlin Chris Rea said he had "three careers in one" Known for his gravelly voice and latterly for his slide guitar playing, he was nominated for a slew of top awards, including Brit Awards, at the height of his success and sold millions of records. The musician, who has died at the age of 74 , returned to his blues roots after a string of health problems, including pancreatic cancer. "I wasn't frightened of dying," he once said in an interview. "It did look like the end, but what got me through was the thought of leaving a record that my two teenage daughters could say, 'That's what Papa did - not the pop stuff, but the blues music. That's what he was about'." Born to an Irish mother and Italian father in Middlesbrough in 1951, Rea took various labouring jobs after leaving school and helped out in his family's ice cream business. He came late to the guitar, not picking one up until he was 21. But Rea proved to have a talent for the instrument, performing with various bands and artists, including guitar legend Hank Marvin. His debut album, Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? , was released in 1978, but it was in the mid-1980s that his fame soared - in both Ireland and the UK. By the time his eighth album, On the Beach , was unveiled in 1986, Rea was a star around Europe. Rea had his pancreas removed in 2001 and went on to describe the operation as a life-changing experience that caused bouts of depression. "Once they've taken your pancreas away, the rest of your life is dealing with not having a pancreas, which is pretty awful sometimes, but I'm still here," he said in 2014. Following his cancer diagnosis, Rea started taking forays into swampy blues, which injected new life into his career. Several bluesy records followed, including Hofner Blue Notes and Blue Guitars . Rea said in an interview: "I feel I've had three careers in one, really. "There was the Benny Santini stuff, that came with a general sense of, 'Who the hell is he?', and then there was The Road to Hell stuff, and now there's the blues stuff... I feel very lucky." More health troubles came in 2016 when he suffered a stroke. However, Rea recovered to launch a new album, Road Songs for Lovers , in 2017. He later took the album on tour but had to cancel a number of shows after he collapsed mid-song while performing at the New Theatre in Oxford. In...

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