Chris Rea: The Road to Hell

Christopher "Chris" Anton Rea, born on 4th March 1951, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK, is a rock and blues singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Chris is of Italian and Irish descent, being known for his distinctive, husky-gravel voice and slide guitar playing. Rea was one of the most popular British singer-songwriters of the late '80s, already being a major European star when he entered the UK Top 10 with the issue of the single The Road to Hell (Part 2), his 18th chart entry. Two of his studio LPs, The Road to Hell and Auberge, topped the UK Albums Chart. Chris was nominated in 3 consecutive years for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist, from 1988 - 1990. His hits include I Can Hear Your Heartbeat, Stainsby Girls, Josephine, On the Beach, Let's Dance, Driving Home for Christmas, Working on It, Tell Me There's a Heaven, Auberge, Looking for the Summer, Winter Song, Nothing to Fear, Julia, and If You Were Me, a duet with Elton John. In the US he's best known for the song Fool (If You Think It's Over), which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 during 1978, spending 3 weeks on top of the Adult Contemporary chart, leading to a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist the following year. Rea had sold over 30 million L.Ps worldwide by 2009.