Chris Rea

Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. He is the son of ice cream producer Camillo Rea who together with his brother Gaetano owned an ice cream factory and ran 21 cafés. After leaving school Rea worked in casual labouring jobs, including working in his father's ice cream business. It was at the comparatively late age of 22 that Rea bought his first guitar and began his musical career. A natural left-hander, Rea nevertheless learned to play the guitar right-handed.
Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? was Rea's debut album. It was released in June 1978. The title of the album was a reference to "Benjamin Santini", the stage name that Rea's record label suggested he should adopt. The first single taken from the album, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", was Rea's biggest hit in the US and it was nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy, losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are".
By 1983 Rea's record company had become so uninterested in him that they released the raw demo tapes as his fifth studio album. The album "Water Sign" (likely a nod to Rea's Pisces star sign) became a surprise hit in Ireland and mainland Europe, selling over half a million in just a few months and the single "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" taken from it entered the top 20 across Europe. His major breakthrough album The Road to Hell (1989) enjoyed massive success and became his first #1 album in the UK.

In 2001, Rea underwent a Whipple procedure, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Having promised himself that if he recovered, he would be returning to his blues roots, the resulting Blue Guitars eleven CD collection of 137 blues-inspired tracks recorded in eighteen months, complete with his own paintings as album covers, is seen by himself as his finest work to date. In an interview with The Britsound Radio Show, Rea revealed that "it's not until you become seriously ill and you nearly die and you're at home for six months, that you suddenly stop to realise that this isn't the way I intended it to be in the beginning. Everything that you've done falls away and start wondering why you went through all that rock business stuff."