On the time, Rea had been dropped by his supervisor, was nearing the top of his report contract, and had simply $280 to his identify.
Banned from driving, he relied on his future spouse Joan Rea to make the lengthy drive from Teesside to Abbey Highway studios in London to gather him days earlier than Christmas.
The journey again north, slowed by snow and site visitors, impressed lyrics that might later change into one in every of Britain’s most-played vacation songs.
Rea recounted the second in a 2016 interview. He mentioned: “At any time when the road lights shone contained in the automobile, I began writing down lyrics.”
The journey took six hours, ending at 3am, when a single letter on the doormat modified his fortunes.
“So there was a cheque for £15,000,” Rea mentioned. “We went from being right down to our final £220 to having the ability to purchase a home.”
The fee, value about $19,000, got here from a US performing rights group after his track “Idiot (If You Assume It is Over)” turned successful stateside.
The lyrics to “Driving House for Christmas” had been then initially put aside, stuffed right into a tin, earlier than resurfacing years later.
Launched in 1986 as a B-side to Whats up Good friend, the track gained momentum when radio DJs started flipping the report.
Rea later admitted: “I might by no means supposed to put in writing a Christmas hit– I used to be a severe musician.”
Regardless of that reluctance, the monitor grew right into a perennial favourite, re-entering the UK singles chart yearly since 2007 and peaking at quantity 10 in 2021.
Rea carried out the track reside for the primary time on December 21, 1986, on the Hammersmith Odeon, after stress from his highway crew.
“If I’ll sing this f—— track, we’re gonna do it correctly,” he mentioned. Twelve snow cannons crammed the venue with synthetic snow, leaving Rea with a clean-up invoice of about $15,000.
Current evaluation has discovered 53 p.c of Rea’s Spotify streams got here from the Christmas monitor alone.
Business analysts estimate the track generated greater than $8.8million of his roughly $19million fortune over 39 years.
Rea bought greater than 30 million data general, with main albums together with The Highway to Hell and On the Seashore.
Final 12 months, Rea closed his firm Posedrive Productions, receiving a payout of practically $16million held inside the enterprise alongside Joan.
A second firm, Navybeck Restricted, held belongings of about $800,000. The couple lived in a indifferent dwelling close to Maidenhead since 1989, believed to be value greater than $3.8million.
Rea, a lifelong automobile fanatic, invested closely in classic Ferraris and Lotuses, later promoting them after struggling a stroke in 2016.
He died following years of significant sickness, together with pancreatic most cancers and diabetes.
In a household assertion, Joan and daughters Josie and Julia mentioned: “It’s with immense unhappiness that we announce the loss of life of our beloved Chris. He handed away peacefully in hospital earlier right now following a brief sickness, surrounded by his household.”