{"id":330055,"date":"2025-12-22T16:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/330055\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:41:09","slug":"chris-rea-driving-home-for-christmas-singer-dies-aged-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/330055\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Rea: Driving Home for Christmas singer dies aged 74"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Rea said he ‘wasn’t afraid of dying’ after string of health problemspublished at 15:47 GMT<\/p>\n

15:47 GMT<\/p>\n

At the age of 33, the singer’s music career was brought to a halt when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. <\/p>\n

He subsequently had parts of his pancreas, the duodenum, the gall bladder and part of his liver removed. He was also a type 1 diabetic and had problems with his kidney.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the singer suffered a stroke, though recovered enough to record and tour his 24th album: Road Songs for Lovers.<\/p>\n

A year later, fans shared their concern after the artist appeared to collapse during a performance. He was later said to be in a stable condition in hospital. <\/p>\n

In a 2020 appearance on an episode of Gone Fishing with Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse, Rea reeled off a list of the medical procedures he’d received in 1994, which he called his “most successful year”. <\/p>\n

“I’ve never really got over it,” he told the pair, adding that he was having to take “34 pills every day” to keep on top of his health. <\/p>\n

Addressing his illnesses in another interview, Rea said he “wasn’t frightened of dying”, and said he used his health battles as inspiration to return to his musical roots – the blues. <\/p>\n

“It did look like the end but what got me through was the thought of leaving a record that my two teenage daughters could say: ‘That’s what Papa did – not the pop stuff, but the blues music. That’s what he was about,'” he said.<\/p>\n

Today, the singer’s family says he passed away aged 74, following a “short illness”. <\/p>\n

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