Soft top hard shoulder chris rea biography

Christopher Anton Rea (born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born and raised in Middlesbrough, he is of Italian and Irish descent.

He is known for his distinctive, husky singing and slide guitar playing, with the Guinness Rockopedia describing him as a "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart".

Chris rea wife photos

After learning to play the guitar relatively late, a short burst of local band activity led to his launching a solo career in 1978.

Louder magazine calls Rea "rock's ultimate survivor", given his recovery from several bouts of serious illness.

He has produced twenty-five solo albums, with several from his later blues period - such as Blue Guitars (2005) - having multiple discs. British Hit Singles & Albums says that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s" and "already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with the release of the single The Road to Hell (Part 2)… his 18th chart entry." Two of h