Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Singer Chris Rea, widely known for the festive hit Driving Home for Christmas, has died aged 74, his family confirmed today.

A somewhat reluctant popstar, the Middlesbrough native was shy of the spotlight, and even admitted rallying against the record label's decision to release his biggest hit - though accepted he was thankful when they eventually did in 1986.

The drive-time anthem came to exist while Rea was on a driving ban - more on that in our earlier post.

Reluctant or otherwise, he even resisted a more marketable name swap, the fame the track brought Rea is indisputable; nearly 40 years on, the single took a spot at 30 in this year's UK Christmas top 40.

A proud guitarist with influences stretching deep into the blues, Rea recorded 25 solo albums, two of which topped the UK albums chart.

Rea's success came despite the singer suffering a string of health issues. A pancreatic cancer diagnosis at just 33-years-old was followed by operations on his liver and then a stroke later in life.

Tributes have been coming in since his family announced Rea's death in hospital following a short illness earlier today.

"Chris’s music has created the soundtrack to many lives, and his legacy will live on through the songs he leaves behind," a post on his social media accounts reads.

• We're closing our live coverage now... but you can read more on Chris Rea's life in our full obituary

We've just seen a tribute from television presenter Timmy Mallett.

"Chris is driving home for Christmas now singing for our nearest & dearest," Mallett says in a post on social media platform X.

Mallett also says he bought Rea's home in 1991, and adds that a "happy Christmas" message written by his daughters is still sprayed on the garage wall.

"Grateful for his wonderful gravely voice. God bless you Chris," Mallett says.

Middlesbrough-born Chris Rea found fame in the '70s and '80s and had two UK number one studio albums.

He performed all over the globe during his career, including numerous times for the BBC.

Away from music, Rea was a vehicle addict - he owned and raced several vintage cars, including a 1957 Morris Minor 1000 police car.

The singer was friends with Eddie Jordan, who owned the Jordan Grand Prix Formula One team, and he once even helped out in the pit lane.

"I had the whole uniform," he said. "He put me in charge of the tyre-warmer for the rear right tyre of Eddie Irvine's car."

Rea was also friends with former British racing driver Nigel Mansell and gifted him a copy of his record The Road to Hell following a serious crash.

• Read more about Chris Rea's life in our obituary

Tributes are continuing to come in from Chris Rea's friends and colleagues since the announcement of his death.

Here are some that we've seen so far:

• Middlesbrough FC says the football club is “deeply saddened” by Rea’s death and call him a “Teesside icon”
• The mayor of Rea’s hometown says the singer “helped put Middlesbrough on the map”
• TV personality Lizzie Cundy explains that Rea will "always be an inspiration and legend to me". The pair worked together on the music video for a 2009 version of Driving Home for Christmas
• Broadcaster Piers Morgan says Rea "wrote and sang one of the most famous festive songs in history"
• Irish radio presenter Marty Whelan shared a signed photo of himself alongside Rea on X, adding may “may he rest in peace”

Posts across Chris Rea's official social media accounts say "it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Chris".

He died peacefully earlier today following a short illness, the posts say.

"Chris’s music has created the soundtrack to many lives, and his legacy will live on through the songs he leaves behind," the tribute adds.

Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

"I've always had a difficult relationship with fame, even before my first illness," Rea told Saga magazine last year.

"None of my heroes were rock stars. I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump in to people who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. But I was surrounded by pop stars.

"The celeb thing has gone totally wrong in the sense that everyone has tried to top each other. They don't put the work in."

Speaking of his wife - who he met aged 16 - in the same Saga interview, external, the singer said: "Our golden moment is each morning when there is an elbow fight over whose turn it is to make the coffee.

"Then there are the large mugs of fresh coffee, BBC Breakfast news or Sky and we gaze out of the window over the countryside for an hour and we are still 16. We are lucky to still have that feeling."

Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

If you asked the opinion of executives at Chris Rea's first record label, Benny Santini should have been the name of the performer and not his debut album.

Upon signing his first recording contract with Magnet Records, Rea was called to a meeting by commercially-minded executives to discuss an artistic name change.

Jokingly, the Middlesbrough native suggested "Benjamin Santini", which he found was unexpectedly well received by label representatives in the room.

Rea remained steadfast, though, and opted against adopting a moniker. Instead, he aimed a sly dig at those same executives when he named his 1978 debut Whatever Happened to Benny Santini.

When the LP arrived, the lyrics of its titular track played on the story of a young music star destined for greatness - but unlike the eventual success found by Chris Rea, it does not end well for Benny Santini:

"So whatever happened to Benny Santini?

Whatever happened to the guy on the wall?

Where did he go to if he couldn't fall off?

They tell you they don't know.

They don't know at all"

Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, says he is "very saddened" to hear the news of Rea's death.

"Chris, a most cherished son of Middlesbrough, will live on through his wonderful music. My sincere condolences to his family", he writes in a post on X.

As we've been reporting, Rea's love of cars and driving was the inspiration behind many of his songs - but when he wrote arguably his biggest hit, Driving Home for Christmas, the singer was actually serving a driving ban.

His wife was forced to drive down to London to pick him up and take him home to Middlesbrough - and it was during that journey he started to write the song.

During an appearance on the 2020 Christmas special of TV series Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Rea said he was also "on the dole" at the time, and his manager had just left him.

Asked about what he thinks of when he hears the song, the singer joked about how it bought him "that lovely little holiday in the Maldives".

The singer - well known for his festive hit Driving Home for Christmas - released a new album in October, titled The Christmas Album.

The eight-track record features that song, as well as a 2019 remaster. And there are songs called Footsteps in the Snow, Joys of Christmas and Winter Song on there too.

The mayor of Rea's hometown says the singer "helped put Middlesbrough on the map".

“This is really sad news and my thoughts go out to Chris’ loved ones", Chris Cooke says in a statement.

He adds: “Chris Rea was deeply proud of his Middlesbrough roots and the people of our town were equally proud to call him one of their own.

“Millions of people around the world will listen to his music tonight. His songs helped put Middlesbrough on the map and he leaves behind a brilliant legacy.”

Fans are paying tribute to the singer on social media, following the news of his death.

TV personality Lizzie Cundy says: "I’m so sad to hear Chris Rea has died. I was lucky enough to star in his music video Driving Home for Christmas [a 2009 version].

"I loved every minute and was an honour to work with him and be in his iconic music video. He will always be an inspiration and legend to me. Rest in peace Chris", she adds.

Journalist Tony Parsons shares the music video to Rea's song Fool (If You Think It's Over) on X, writing: "Top man, Chris Rea. Hugely underrated songwriter. Rest well, Chris."

Also on X, broadcaster Piers Morgan notes Rea, "who wrote and sang one of the most famous festive songs in history, Driving Home for Christmas, has died just three days before Christmas".

At the age of 33, the singer's music career was brought to a halt when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

He subsequently had parts of his pancreas, the duodenum, the gall bladder and part of his liver removed. He was also a type 1 diabetic and had problems with his kidney.

In 2016, the singer suffered a stroke, though recovered enough to record and tour his 24th album: Road Songs for Lovers.

A year later, fans shared their concern after the artist appeared to collapse during a performance. He was later said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

In a 2020 appearance on an episode of Gone Fishing with Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse, Rea reeled off a list of the medical procedures he'd received in 1994, which he called his "most successful year".

"I've never really got over it," he told the pair, adding that he was having to take "34 pills every day" to keep on top of his health.

Addressing his illnesses in another interview, Rea said he "wasn't frightened of dying", and said he used his health battles as inspiration to return to his musical roots - the blues.

"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,'" he said.

Today, the singer's family says he passed away aged 74, following a "short illness".

Middlesbrough Football Club shares a tribute to the singer, saying: "We're deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Chris Rea.

"A Teesside icon. Rest in peace, Chris."

Rea was born in Middlesbrough, and in 1997 recorded a fresh version of Let's Dance with his good friend - and fellow Middlesbrough fan - comedian Bob Mortimer, for the football club's FA Cup final appearance.

Emma Petrie
BBC News

The singer was building a reputation for his slide guitar playing when his record company insisted on releasing Driving Home for Christmas in 1986.

Rea said: "I didn't need a Christmas song hanging around at that point. I did everything I could to get them not to release that record. Thankfully they did!"

The song's inspiration dates back to a difficult year for him personally.

In 1978 Rea had come to the end of his record contract and had parted ways with his manager.

The record company wouldn't pay for a train ticket for him to get from London to his home in Middlesbrough, so his wife drove down to pick him up in her old Austin Mini.

On the way back up, it started snowing and they kept getting stuck in traffic and Rea said: "I'd look across at the other drivers, who all looked so miserable.

"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."

He didn't sing the song live until December 2014 after his crew badgered him to do it - hiring 12 snow cannons and let them off during the song.

"We put three feet of artificial snow in the stalls. The venue charged me £12,000 to clean it up!"

Rea found fame in the 70s and 80s with songs such as Fool (If You Think It's Over), and Let's Dance.

His debut album - titled Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?, a reference to the stage name his record label wanted him to adopt - was released in 1978. The track Fool (If You Think It's Over) went on to be nominated for a Grammy.

He had his first number one album in 1989 with The Road to Hell, and album Auberge released in 1991 also charted at number one.

But he became synonymous with December with the festive hit Driving Home for Christmas, first released in 1986.

As we've been reporting, song hit number 30 in last week's Christmas chart, and is heard often on the radio and TV every December.

Emma Petrie
BBC News

Chris Rea spent countless hours on the road, and his love of cars and driving was the inspiration behind many of his songs.

He recorded 25 solo albums, two of which topped the UK albums chart. His distinctive gravelly voice and slide guitar-playing are preserved in songs such as Road to Hell, Auberge, On the Beach and Driving Home for Christmas.

Christopher Anton Rea was born in Middlesbrough in 1951 to an Italian father and Irish mother and was one of seven children. The family was known locally for Camillo's ice cream factory and cafes, owned by his father Camillo Rea.

Chris worked in the cafes as a teenager and took his driving test in one of his dad's ice cream vans. When he was asked to do an emergency stop, the examiner fell off the box he was sitting on and cut his leg.

Rea said: "I had to take him to the hospital but he still passed me."

He was still working for his father when he bought his first guitar, a 1961 Hofner V3 in his early 20s.

Rea said that at the time he was "meant to be developing my father's ice cream cafe into a global concern, but I spent all my time in the stockroom playing slide guitar".

Chris Rea has been synonymous with the festive season, ever since his hit Driving Home for Christmas was released in 1986.

According to Rea's website, the song "tells the story of a weary traveller making his way home, a moment of warmth, humour and holiday spirit that’s never lost its magic".

And with a change to rules in recent years, it has often found itself back in the charts in December - this year reaching number 30 in the Christmas charts. This year it also features in the M&S Food Christmas advert.

Announcing Rea's death, a spokesperson for his wife and two children says: "It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.

"He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family."