British singer/guitarist, born in 1951 in Middlesbrough, England. He started out performing with a band called Magdalene after future Whitesnake singer David Coverdale quit. After changing their name to the Beautiful Losers, the band won a national talent contest in 1975, though they didn't get a record contract out of the win.

Rea left the band and recorded an album called "Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?", which had a Top 20 hit in the United States with "Fool (If You Think It's Over)"--after that, Rea concentrated his efforts in Europe, where most of his fans were, so no one in the U.S. heard from him for a while. A compilation of songs from his albums from the 1980s was released in 1988; "New Light Through Old Windows" sold well in Europe and appeared on the charts in America.

Rea's followup album was the critically acclaimed "The Road to Hell", which many consider to be his best album. "The Road to Hell" got some airplay on American rock radio, though his subsequent releases, including "Auberge", "God's Great Banana Skin", "Espresso Logic", "La Passione", "The Blue Cafe", "King of the Beach", and "Stony Road", have again been released mostly for European audiences and have received little if any publicity in the U.S.

Rea sounds like he wouldn't be out of place in an American blues bar. His voice is deep and gravelly, and his guitar style is heavily blues-influenced. His songs are introspective and emotional--though sadness and despair are the most common emotions he sings about, he's also performed very happy and even very angry songs. I recommend him enthusiastically, especially "The Road to Hell", which is a masterful album.

Discography:
1972 - Se Sequi
1978 - Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?
1979 - Deltics
1980 - Tennis
1982 - Chris Rea
1983 - Water Sign
1984 - Wired to the Moon
1985 - Shamrock Diaries
1986 - On the Beach
1987 - Dancing with Strangers
1989 - Road to Hell
1991 - Auberge
1993 - God's Great Banana Skin
1994 - Espresso Logic
1996 - La Passione
1998 - The Blue Cafe
1999 - The Road to Hell: Part 2
2000 - King of the Beach
2002 - Dancing Down the Stony Road
2002 - Stony Road

Research from the All Music Guide (www.allmusic.com)