At the time, Rea had been dropped by his manager, was nearing the end of his record contract, and had just $280 to his name.
Banned from driving, he relied on his future wife Joan Rea to make the long drive from Teesside to Abbey Road studios in London to collect him days before Christmas.
The journey back north, slowed by snow and traffic, inspired lyrics that would later become one of Britain’s most-played holiday songs.
Rea recounted the moment in a 2016 interview. He said: “Whenever the street lights shone inside the car, I started writing down lyrics.”
The trip took six hours, ending at 3am, when a single letter on the doormat changed his fortunes.
“So there was a cheque for £15,000,” Rea said. “We went from being down to our last £220 to being able to buy a house.”
The payment, worth about $19,000, came from a US performing rights organization after his song “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)” became a hit stateside.
The lyrics to “Driving Home for Christmas” were then initially set aside, stuffed into a tin, before resurfacing years later.
Released in 1986 as a B-side to Hello Friend, the song gained momentum when radio DJs began flipping the record.
Rea later admitted: “I’d never intended to write a Christmas hit– I was a serious musician.”
Despite that reluctance, the track grew into a perennial favorite, re-entering the UK singles chart every year since 2007 and peaking at number 10 in 2021.
Rea performed the song live for the first time on December 21, 1986, at the Hammersmith Odeon, after pressure from his road crew.
“If I’m going to sing this f—— song, we’re gonna do it properly,” he said. Twelve snow cannons filled the venue with artificial snow, leaving Rea with a clean-up bill of about $15,000.
Recent analysis has found 53 percent of Rea’s Spotify streams came from the Christmas track alone.
Industry analysts estimate the song generated more than $8.8million of his roughly $19million fortune over 39 years.
Rea sold more than 30 million records overall, with major albums including The Road to Hell and On the Beach.
Last year, Rea closed his company Posedrive Productions, receiving a payout of nearly $16million held within the business alongside Joan.
A second company, Navybeck Limited, held assets of about $800,000. The couple lived in a detached home near Maidenhead since 1989, believed to be worth more than $3.8million.
Rea, a lifelong car enthusiast, invested heavily in vintage Ferraris and Lotuses, later selling them after suffering a stroke in 2016.
He died following years of serious illness, including pancreatic cancer and diabetes.
In a family statement, Joan and daughters Josie and Julia said: “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.”
