Photo: Andrzej Barabasz (Chepry) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Chris Rea's passing in December 2025 closed the book on one of my favorite kinds of musicians: the unglamorous craftsman. That gravel-and-honey voice and his slide guitar never begged for attention; they simply outlasted every trend that ignored them. Twenty-five studio albums from a Middlesbrough son who treated blues-rock like a trade to be practiced daily moves me more than any stadium spectacle. Every winter his voice returns to the airwaves and feels like a hand on the shoulder. I suspect history will be kinder to him than the charts sometimes were, because quiet excellence usually wins the long game.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Chris Rea
- Name (Japanese)
- クリス・レア
- Reading
- くりす・れあ
- Born
- March 4, 1951 (age 75)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Rabbit
- Origin
- Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- singer-songwriter / singer / recording artist / actor / musician
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Chris Rea born?
Born March 4, 1951 (age 75).
Where is Chris Rea from?
Chris Rea is from Middlesbrough, United Kingdom.
What does Chris Rea do?
Chris Rea works as singer-songwriter, singer, recording artist, actor, musician.
Singer-songwriter — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.