“I was very aggressive. I’d survived this terrible pop thing, so I became mega-paranoid. Hard to work for? Very”: The trials and triumphs of Chris Rea, rock’s most misunderstood star

Chris Rea posing for a photograph in 2005.

When Chris Rea died on December 22, 2025, many of the obituaries focussed on his festive 1986 hit Driving Home For Christmas. But the Middlesbrough-born singer and guitarist had a much richer and deeper career, not to mention an abiding love of the blues. In 2015, Classic Rock’s sister magazine The Blues met Rea at his home in rural Berkshire to look back over the highs, lows, successes and failures of his illustrious career.