{"id":2918,"date":"2025-12-22T17:03:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=2918"},"modified":"2025-12-22T17:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:03:40","slug":"driving-home-for-christmas-singer-chris-rea-dies-aged-74-after-short-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=2918","title":{"rendered":"Driving Home For Christmas singer Chris Rea dies aged 74 after \u2018short illness\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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is Rea has died aged 74 (Picture: Frank Hoensch\/Redferns)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Rea, known for his iconic festive song Driving Home For\u00a0Christmas<\/a>, has died aged 74 after a \u2018short illness\u2019.<\/p>\n

A statement from his family said he \u2018passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.\u2019<\/p>\n

He was previously diagnosed with pancreatic\u00a0cancer<\/a>\u00a0and had his pancreas removed in 2001, and in 2016, he suffered a stroke but no cause of death has been given.<\/p>\n

The star rose fame in the late 70s and found continued success into the 80s with hits such as Fool (If You Think It\u2019s Over), Let\u2019s Dance and The Road To Hell.<\/p>\n

Just last week, Rea revealed to the\u00a0Daily Express<\/a>, he had originally written his famous Christmas track for Van Morrison but decided to record it himself first.<\/p>\n

The song sat gathering dust on a shelf for eight years until his label put it as the B-side track to Hello Friend.<\/p>\n

A DJ then accidentally played it instead of the A-side, with Rea still unsure \u2018why or how\u2019 that mix-up happened.<\/p>\n

But instead of being a mistake, the song firmly became a Christmas classic, climbing up the charts each year in the age of streaming.<\/p>\n

He shared: \u2018It\u2019s got a story everyone can relate to: you\u2019re stuck in traffic, when all you want to do is to get home and be with your loved ones. Everyone in the country is doing the same thing at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a frustrating song, but it\u2019s also hopeful and comforting. It\u2019s funny, because I\u2019d just been banned from driving when I wrote it.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I was feeling good at the time too, and people say they can hear that infectious feel-good mood when they hear it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Even with the song\u2019s growing popularity, Rea avoided playing it until 2014 when his tour crew begged him to add it to the set.<\/p>\n

The response from the crowd was, of course, \u2018nuts\u2019 \u2014\u00a0especially with all the fake snow falling.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018The noise was deafening, and we covered everyone with fake snow. But I got fined \u00a312,000 for the clean-up afterwards! I was more in the Christmas spirit than the venue was.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

is Rea has died aged 74 (Picture: Frank Hoensch\/Redferns) Chris Rea, known for his iconic festive song Driving Home For\u00a0Christmas, has died aged 74 after a \u2018short illness\u2019. A statement from his family said he \u2018passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.\u2019 He was previously diagnosed with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t