Chris Rea, the legend behind Driving Home For Christmas, sadly died aged 74 on 22 December following some jaw-dropping news and the death of two of his siblings
Chris Rea’s final months were marked by both heartbreak and happiness.
The Driving Home For Christmas legend passed away aged 74 on December 22 after battling a brief illness and the musician’s loved ones issued a statement confirming the devastating news. It’s now come to light that Chris’ passing isn’t the family’s only recent loss as he was actually the third sibling to die within three months of each other.
Chris’s younger brother Nicholas, the youngest of seven children, passed away in hospital during October following a brain cancer diagnosis aged 66. Just days following Nicholas’s funeral, their sister Geraldine, twin to Chris’s elder sister Camille Whitaker, died unexpectedly.
This comes after Chris’ final social media post was discovered shortly after his death.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Camille Whitaker said: “It is an awful pain. It is gut-wrenching what happened. The family has been quite shocked by it.”
Amid the heartache leading up to his passing, Chris experienced joy like no other as he welcomed his first grandchild, reports the Mirror. Chris’ sister Camille revealed he “always kept very close to his family”.
She shared: “He has two daughters and he recently became a grandfather to a boy. He was very, very pleased. That was wonderful. His eldest, Josephine, inspired one of his songs and Julia, his second daughter, she is the lady who got married and had a baby.”
Camille also said Chris had been battling “terrible, terrible health” and had been “unwell for sometime” before to his passing. His family announced the heartbreaking news via the Press Association earlier this week.
A statement from Chris’ family read: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris. He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”
Just hours before his death, a post was shared on Chris’s Instagram page depicting a snowy motorway as drivers headed home for the festive season. A road sign read: “Driving home for Christmas with a thousand memories,” lyrics from his iconic festive hit.
Speaking on Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing, Chris reminisced about his massive single five years ago: “I just thought I’d drive home for Christmas, I was on the dole when I wrote that. I’d just been, my manager had just left me, I’d been banned from driving. My now wife Joan, she had to drive down to London, pick me up in the Mini and take me home and that’s when I wrote it.”
Reflecting on how he felt when he heard the iconic song, he said: “I think of that lovely little holiday in the Maldives. I’m not a very good pop star, I wish I was. I’d like to me, when I look at Sting and people like that, I think: ‘I wish I was like him.'”
He added that he “loved Christmas” and always went all out with a large tree and a “fine assortment” of wines.
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