Biography

Chris Rea had Irish and Italian parents. His first ambition was to be a journalist, which ended when a college teacher tore up one of his essays. Afterwards, he went to work in his father's ice cream factory. Away from music, Chris' passion was motor racing and Ferrari cars. He held a full racing license, doing 18 laps in a Jordan Formula One car and raced a BMW touring car shoot out in the TOCA shoot out at Donington Park, side by side with Nigel Mansell. Having given up motor racing, he almost lost his life when a medical ailment immobilized him for 18 months. However, confined to bed, he used his time to dictate the script for La Passione. He had no need to work, since his father owned an ice cream business, to which Chris was the only inheritor. His ambition was to travel to his Italian homeland and to own a Ferrari.
- IMDb mini biography by: tonyman 5

It was while listening to a Joe Walsh record at a friends house that the young Rea realized that it was something he could do. He bought a guitar and started trying out with local bands, then managed to land a deal and got immediate success with his first single 'Fool', which came from his debut album Whatever Happened to Barry Santini. He spent his next few albums trying to reaffirm his musical persona, and while his next three got favorable critical attention, they had little commercial impact. By 1983, he considered giving up. Then, an offer from Ireland to promote his new album and a tour gave him fresh heart. He moved to London, making that his new base, and began doing tours of Europe, winning a new following and quickly established himself as a major force in British rock, obtaining gold albums from Australia and Japan. His next three albums yielded a stack of international hits, then The Road to Hell (1989) became his first number one album in the United Kingdom. With a long sequence of hit albums behind him, he decided he wanted something different. An interest in '60s swing bands and arrangements led him to sketch out a series of instrumental sequences and with that in hand the idea for the film 'La Passione' sprang from another of his passions (the Ferrari and motor racing). In his view, it is influenced by Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Mel Brooks and Terence Davies. The film and album feature over an hour of new music by Chris and other artists, including Shirley Bassey, who has a cameo in the film and sings two songs.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Husky voice

Writing songs about driving and the road