Chris Rea

Born Mar 4, 1951 in Middlesbrough, England Styles Singer/Songwriter, Album Rock, Adult Contemporary Biography British singer and guitarist Chris Rea has enjoyed a run of popularity in Europe during the late ’80s and early ’90s after almost a decade of previous recording. Rea started out performing with a local group called Magdalene, taking David Coverdale’s place; the band won a national talent contest in 1975 as the Beautiful Losers, but still failed to get a record contract. Rea left the band and recorded the album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, which alluded to a discarded stage name, which went gold on the strength of the U.S. Top 20 hit «Fool (If You Think It’s Over)». Rea was not heard from again in the U.S. for some time, concentrating his efforts on his main fan base of Europe. A compilation of tracks from Rea’s ’80s albums, New Light Through Old Windows, was released in 1988 and sold well in the U.K. and Europe and charted in the U.S. Rea followed it up with the critically acclaimed The Road to Hell, which many regarded as his best album. It and its follow-up, Auberge, went to the top of the U.K. album charts, but did not prove as successful in the U.S., where he has failed to chart with his subsequent releases.

1978 Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? 1979 Deltics 1980 Tennis 1982 Chris Rea 1983 Water Sign 1984 Wired to the Moon 1985 Shamrock Diaries 1986 On the Beach 1987 Dancing with Strangers 1989 Road to Hell 1991 Auberge 1993 God's Great Banana Skin 1994 Espresso Logic 1996 La Passione 1998 The Blue Cafe [UK] 1999 The Road to Hell: Part 2 2000 Blue Cafe [Import Bonus Tracks] 2000 King of the Beach 2002 Stony Road [German Bonus CD] 2002 Dancing Down the Stony Road 2002 Stony Road 2004 Blue Street (Five Guitars) 2004 Blue Jukebox 2004 Dancing Shoes