JAKARTA - British musician Chris Rea, widely known for his iconic Christmas song "Driving Home For Christmas", has reportedly died at the age of 74.
Rea's departure is a sad irony, given that his voice is currently ringing out in various parts of the world that are celebrating Christmas.
The news of Rea's departure was confirmed directly by the family. He died on Sunday, December 22 local time.
A family spokesman said Rea breathed his last at the hospital after a short battle with the disease. In his last moments, he was accompanied by his wife and two children.
"It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris," a family representative said, quoted by NME, Wednesday, December 24.
"He died peacefully in hospital this morning after a short illness, surrounded by his family," the statement added.
Born on March 4, 1951, the son of an Italian father and an Irish mother began his career in a unique way, helping his family's ice cream business before eventually learning guitar on his own.
His distinctive slide guitar playing began to take shape when he joined Magdalene, replacing David Coverdale who later became the lead singer of Deep Purple.
Even though he only started to take music seriously in his 20s, Rea managed to prove his capacity as a productive musician by releasing more than 25 studio albums throughout his career.
The peak of Rea's popularity occurred in the late 1980s, where he recorded two albums that topped the British charts, The Road To Hell (1989) and Auberge (1991). However, his greatest legacy that most impressed the public was the song "Driving Home For Christmas".
Interestingly, in his last interview last week, Rea revealed the shocking fact that the song was written while he was actually being sanctioned with a driving ban.
"It's a frustrating song, but also hopeful and comforting," Rea said. "It's funny, because I was just banned from driving when I wrote it. But I was feeling happy at the time, and people say they can hear that happy, infectious mood when they hear it."
Throughout his life, Rea was known as a tough figure in dealing with health problems. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1994, which required him to undergo major surgery, to suffer a stroke in 2016.
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