Driving Home for Christmas singer Chris Rea dies aged 74

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Chris Rea, the musician behind the festive classic Driving Home for Christmas, has died at the age of 74.

The singer died on Monday in hospital following a short illness, a spokesperson for his family said.

A statement on behalf of his wife and two children read: "It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.

"He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family."

The blues-influenced star had a string of hits included Auberge, On the Beach and Road to Hell.

Paying tribute on X, Middlesborough FC said: "We're deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Chris Rea. A Teesside icon. Rest in peace, Chris."

Rea's 1980s smash Driving Home for Christmas tells the story of a weary traveller making his way home in heavy traffic.

This year, it has been brought to new audiences as the backdrop to the M&S Food Christmas advert.

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the singer's social media platforms posted a chat between the Rea and fellow Middlesbrough native Bob Mortimer, explaining how he came to write the track.

Rea said he was on the dole at the time, his manager had just left him and he had been banned from driving.

His then-girlfriend Joan (who he met when they were both 16 and went on to marry) had to pick him up in London in her mini and drive him home. And that's what inspired the song, which was written in 1978, 10 years before it was released released as a single in 1998.

The singer-songwriter had suffered with various bouts of ill-health over the years.

He had his pancreas removed a few years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of just 33 in 1994 and then had a stroke in 2016.

The star never forgot his roots, telling Saga magazine last year: "I've always had a difficult relationship with fame, even before my first illness.

"None of my heroes were rock stars. I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump in to people who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. But I was surrounded by pop stars.

"The celeb thing has gone totally wrong in the sense that everyone has tried to top each other. They don't put the work in."#

Speaking of his wife in the same interview, he said: "Our golden moment is each morning when there is an elbow fight over whose turn it is to make the coffee.

"Then there are the large mugs of fresh coffee, BBC Breakfast news or Sky and we gaze out of the window over the countryside for an hour and we are still 16. We are lucky to still have that feeling."

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Rea first began helping out with his family's ice-cream business - his dad was Italian, while his mum was Irish.

Once he found the guitar, he soon began playing in various bands and released his debut album Whatever Happened To Benny Santini? in 1978.

His commercial breakthrough came in the 1980s, as two of his studio albums - The Road To Hell (1989) and Auberge (1991) - went to number one in the UK.

He returned to his blues roots in his later years while facing his health challenges.

After his stroke nine years ago, he recovered to launch a new album, Road Songs For Lovers, in 2017.

He took the album on the road at the end of that year but had to cancel a number of shows after he collapsed mid-song while performing at the New Theatre in Oxford.