British singer and guitarist Chris Rea, known for his song Driving Home for Christmas, has died at the age of 74 after an illness. His family said the musician passed away in hospital, surrounded by his loved ones.
This was reported by the BBC.
Chris Rea died on December 17. According to the musician’s representative, the singer died after a short illness.
Rea gained widespread popularity in the 1970s and 1980s with songs such as Fool (If You Think It’s Over) and Let’s Dance. His debut album Whatever Happened To Benny Santini? was released in 1978, and the song Fool (If You Think It’s Over) was nominated for a Grammy Award. He released his first number one album, The Road to Hell, in 1989, and the album Auberge also topped the charts in 1991.
The song Driving Home for Christmas, with which Ritchie is most associated, was first released in 1986, despite the musician’s attempts to prevent its release. He said that the idea for the song came to him in 1978, when, after his contract with the label ended, he didn’t have enough money for a ticket home, and his wife drove from London to Middlesbrough in an old Austin Mini to pick him up. During the snowy trip, stuck in traffic, Ritchie jokingly began humming the lines of the future song and writing down the lyrics by the light of the street lamps.
The musician noted that he wrote the song in five to ten minutes and did not perform it live for a long time. He first sang Driving Home for Christmas on stage in December 2014, after much insistence from his team, using 12 snow cannons during the performance.
In December 2025, the song re-entered the Christmas charts, reaching number 30, and was traditionally played on radio and television.