Chris Rea’s family has opened up about their heartache following the legendary musician’s death shortly before Christmas.
The rock and blues singer-songwriter – world-famous for his festive hit Driving Home for Christmas – died on December 22, with a spokesperson confirming he died in hospital following a short illness.
Now, his sister has revealed he was the third sibling to die in the space of just three months, leaving the family ‘in shock’.
Rea hailed from a large brood of seven children, born to an Italian father (who died in 2010) and an Irish mother (who died in 1983).
His older sister, Camille Whitaker, has revealed that youngest sibling Nicholas died in October at the age of 66 from brain cancer.
Mere days after his funeral, Whitaker’s twin sister, Geraldine Milward, died suddenly.
Reflecting on suffering three devastating losses at the end of this year, the 79-year-old has described her grief as ‘an awful pain’.
‘It is gut-wrenching what happened. The family has been quite shocked by it,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘It is tragic. We can’t sort of get around it.’
Whitaker went on to say that while she hadn’t seen Rea for almost two years, they would speak on the phone, their last conversation being just six days ago.
‘He was very quiet; he was not a great person on the phone, but I enjoyed our conversations,’ she added.
Whitaker revealed that, in the time she has not seen Rea, he was ‘home-ridden’ due to illness.
‘Christopher had terrible, terrible health and has been unwell for some time before he died,’ she explained, saying he ‘hid away from most people’.
Fortunately, he was able to experience some personal joy before he died, as one of his daughters gave birth to a son.
‘He lived with his wife and children in Buckinghamshire. He always kept very close to his family,’ Whitaker said.
‘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.’
She added that they will be ‘completely wrecked’ by his death.
However, Whitaker is finding personal comfort in the outpouring of love she has witnessed from fans of her late brother.
‘It is sad, and it will be for a while. I’m pleased for him that he is getting a lot of coverage in the press.’
She added that it’s been ‘amazing’ to see ‘what is being said about him’, not quite realising how popular his music was around Christmastime.
‘What I am quite moved about is the amount of press that he has got.’
Following Rea’s death, his wife confirmed he had died surrounded by his family.
Rea met Joan Lesley when they were teenagers growing up in Middlesbrough, and they had been childhood sweethearts.
It’s said that his wife of almost six decades was even a muse behind Driving Home for Christmas, as inspiration struck him for the tune after a recording session in December 1978, when he was travelling back up north.
He later created the feel-good melody almost by accident while playing around on the piano.
Driving Home for Christmas was then initially released as a B-side to his 1986 single Hello Friend, but Rea decided to re-record it after listeners loved it so much.
Each year, it climbs back up the charts, having peaked at number 10 in 2021.
It would go on to become one of the most iconic Christmas hits, with Rea’s annual royalties thought to be around £200,000, meaning he’s made approximately £7million since its release.
The beloved musician previously shared that he gave Joan an incredible gift when he was told he had cancer.
During his final TV appearance on the Christmas special of BBC’s Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing, he explained: ‘I was in hospital, and the pancreatic cancer nurse comes in and tells me, “It’s not grade three cancer; phone your wife!”
‘So I phone my wife, and she pulled the car over and burst into tears.’
‘I gave her all the money, all the rights to all the songs,’ he quipped, laughing: ‘And now she won’t give them back.’
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