Chris Rea was born on March 4, 1951, in England. He is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, who was very popular in the 1980’s. Rea is mostly popular for such songs as “Fool If You Think It Over”, “Let’s Dance”, “Josephine”, “Looking for the Summer”, and “Julia”.
When Chris Rea first appeared on the music scene, he was compared to Bruce Springsteen. However, with time, Rea managed to become much popular in Europe than the famous American artist.
In 1974, Rea became the leading vocalist of the local English band Magdalene. He replaced David Coverdale, who was invited to Deep Purple. The band was playing hard blues-rock in Joe Walsh style. Rea calls Walsh his teacher.
In 1975, Magdalene changed their name to Beautiful Losers and earned a status of the “best band of the year” by winning a contest organized by a local newspaper Melody Maker. However, the real fame was yet to come.
In 1976, Rea signed a contract with Magnet Records as a solo artist. His first album was produced by Gus Dudgeon, who worked with Elton John. The album was called Whatever Happened to Benny Santini. Benny Santini was supposed to be Rea’s pseudonym, but he changed his mind. The single from the album, “Fool If You Think It Over” reached the 30th spot on the UK singles chart and the 12th spot on Billboard Hot 100.
