Chris Rea

Chris Rea
Chris Rea during the Santo Spirito Tour (2011).
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Anton Rea
Born	(1951-03-04) 4 March 1951 (age 65)
Origin	Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Genres	Pop rock, soft rock, blues rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Magnet, East West, Edel, Warner, Jazzee Blue, Rhino
Notable instruments
1962

Christopher Anton Rea (/ˈriːə/ REE-ə; born 4 March 1951) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, 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)". As of 2009, he has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

In America he is best known for the 1978 hit song "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" that reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. This success earned him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1979. His other hit songs include, "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat", "Stainsby Girls", "On the Beach" (Adult Contemporary No. 9), "Let's Dance", "Josephine", "Driving Home for Christmas", "I Just Wanna Be with You", "Looking for a Rainbow", "Tell Me There's a Heaven", "Auberge", "And You My Love", "Looking for the Summer", "Winter Song", "Nothing To Fear", "Julia", "Working On It" (Mainstream Rock No. 1), and "If You Were Me", a duet with Elton John.