Talk:Chris Rea

References to Magdalene
I have removed the references to Magdalene based on the following email to the HelpDesk. - Andre Engels 11:12, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Dear Wikimedia, Just read an article on chris rea (middlesbrough,uk.) the information that you give is wrong, Dave Coverdale was never a member of magdalene before joining Deep purple he was in a local band called Fabulosa brothers. Again chris rea was never a member of magdalene. This false information is widely given out. It was myself who was the lead singer. I knew Dave and Chris when they lived in the area and i am sure they would like this information deleted. yours sincerely, Steve Conway.

Tell Me There's a Heaven
Is there a story behind this song? It sounds like there could but I can't find any information on this. 81.98.42.157 11:40, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Yes.

"I came home one night and found one of my daughters extremely distressed at what she saw on TV - a guy being stoned to death and then having a burning tyre put around his neck. This wasn't 10.00, it was on the news ... She once asked me if it was true, as my father had told her, that those people go to heaven and that they're happy now. Because she doesn't know what death is yet. I thought, for tonight I'll tell her there is. Then I looked out of the window myself and thought who the fuck do I ask if there is a heaven?"

Karen Krizanovich, CD Review November 1989, p.76

Need more info
This bio seems to start in the middle of his career. It needs more info about where Chris was born, where he grew up, his musical influences, how he learned to play, what bands he played in, etc. Does anyone know more?

Much of this article is a copyvio.
Substantial portions of this article are lifted directly from http://x1fmradio.net/Music/artists/chris_rea/biography. However--there's a problem with that site; apparently it's been moved or changed in such a manner that the information which has been lifted is no longer findable ON THAT SITE. I found this out by Googling a less-than-common sentence fragment, namely:

"The consequences of a serious illness had forced the always reserved and modest performer"

Try it yourself. You will get the same result, and if you include omitted sources, suddenly you've got 241 additional instances of that phrase. Since I'm not entirely sure what to do next (despite my admin status) I'm going to report this at the appropriate noticeboard. Sorry...GJC 05:11, 8 March 2009 (UTC)


 * What makes you think they didn't take it from here? And what's the point in posting a dead link? it doesn't exactly support your pov. Stephenjh (talk) 09:09, 8 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, that sentence was posted here with a date of October 23, 2007. It was not added to this article until November of 2007, here. Whatever the source may have been for that blog, unless it's found to have been added to the article before its posting elsewhere, it didn't originate on Wikipedia. Hence, we can't use it without verification that it's free for use in accordance with our copyright policy. That IP editor introduced a fair amount of text that day. In addition to tagging this section for rewriting, I'll look to see if there is evidence of other areas of concern. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 11:41, 16 March 2009 (UTC)


 * The good news is that the IP editor only tainted one section. I've blanked it to allow regular contributors an opportunity to rewrite that section, since I am not familiar with the artist. If there are no takers, I'll take a stab at it after the requisite 7 days. Meanwhile, I've run the rest of the article through a mechanical plagiarism checker. While this does not positively prove that there are no other problematic sections, I'm encouraged by the fact that every match I've found is plainly copying from Wikipedia, as evidenced by either its being a known wikimirror or its utilizing text that can be verified to have evolved here naturally. It seems likely that this is the only section of concern. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 12:19, 16 March 2009 (UTC)


 * copyvio problems solved. no need for further copyvio marks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.207.176.177 (talk) 01:06, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, your removing the template does not constructively address the copyright concerns. As no one has proposed a revision or verified permission, the material has been removed. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 12:18, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
One or more portions of this article duplicated other source(s). Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a license compatible with GFDL. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or printed material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use external websites as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 12:18, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

90s career sections inconsistent
Currently, the article states:

''After Auberge, Rea released God's Great Banana Skin, which managed to reach Number 4 in the UK. The album returned Rea to the rockier sound of Road to Hell, and the single "Nothing to Fear" gave him another Top 20 hit. A year later Espresso Logic hit the Top 10 and "Julia", written about his second daughter, gave him his 11th Top 40. A period of ill health meant his next album did not appear until 1998.''

However, the discography and external sources show Rea working on La Passione (1996 release) during this period. This "film project" apparently required a great deal of involvement by Rea, as he worked extensively with full orchestra and other artists including Shirely Bassey.

If someone has information to clarify this period, it would be helpful to the article.

71.0.132.162 (talk) 20:19, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

There's a whole lot of work that needs to be done to the entire article. It's a bit of a traiwreck at the moment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.210.170.231 (talk) 23:05, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Pronunciation of name
There are two different pronunciations of Chris' name in this article: Ree-ah and Ray-ah. If possible, this needs to be clarified. TerenceU (talk) 15:42, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

"Loopy" section on his dog
From the text: 'There are also two new songs "Come So Far, Yet Still So Far to Go" and the ballad "Valentino", a song about his dog that had died. In actuality Chris had to give the day to a friend as the dog was loopy. Perhaps not surprising as the dog had spent six months in quarantine. Chris brought the Jack Russell back from Italy. But then again it might have been in the nature of the dog. After all each day while in quarantine Chris visited the dog.'

This is a badly written section. It could either be rewritten or removed. Is there a reliable source anywhere for these assertions? All I've found so far is text that seems to have been lifted from this Wikipedia page itself. -AlanUS (talk) 22:30, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Misunderstanding of "Steel River"
I cut this from the References in Lyrics section In the song there is a mention of 'salmon who have lost their steel mother' and, in the 1980s, it looked like they were gone for good. However, salmon stocks are slowly beginning to recover. [reference]

Of course there's a danger of doing original research in interpreting song lyrics but I think it's pretty unambiguous that in the lines They say that salmon swim in steel river They say it's good to see them back again I know it hurts to see what really happened I know one salmon ain't no good to them They were born and raised to serve their steel mother It was all they taught and all they ever knew all three "They"s are the people of Teesside. With most of the industry gone and therefore less pollution there are salmon in the Tees, but the industrial workers might have rather had their jobs back instead. So the point is more subtle than "hooray for salmon". -Slogby (talk) 15:47, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

Did he really have pancreatic cancer?
I remember reading a magazine article back in the day that said that he was suspected to have pancreatic cancer, that he feared for his life, but it turned out that it wasn't pancreatic cancer after all (but still some severe, but curable, disease). The two references given in the article for the cancer claim both say that he had his pancreas removed. But the article says he had the head of the pancreas removed. Is there a reliable source for the cancer claim? --217.226.76.202 (talk) 22:10, 27 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The Daily Mail article gets more specific towards the end. But it should be remembered that all this is just as Chris Rea tells the story. Do we believe him that he never enjoyed playing his pop hits the way his fans love them? (As one of them, I wish him all the best!) --217.226.76.202 (talk) 22:24, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Rewrite help
This article is in need of a rewrite or at least a major tweak. I've started in on some of the more poorly expressed items, checking cite sources for some clarity and rewriting to more accurately - or clearly - reflect the actual facts. Don't know if I'll get to everything so, in the meantime, if someone else is motivated to dig in it would be appreciated. This could be improved to make it a better article all the way around. Thanks.THX1136 (talk) 00:51, 10 August 2019 (UTC)
 * For now everything seems fine, besides removing two reliably sourced sentences in the lead.--Miki Filigranski (talk) 20:11, 12 August 2019 (UTC)


 * I am mostly referring to run on sentence structure and, in other places, missing words which muddle the intent of the sentence. There are also places where information is kind of a jumble as far as organization goes - i.e jumping from one item to another that is somewhat unrelated and then back to another item. There are also several sentences that have a repetitive start to them - "In 2002"; "In 2004"; "In 2008"; etc. I've begun work on some of those instances. As things are here at Wikipedia, if any of my edits are out of line or inaccurate, please feel free to revert or edit further. I've got no "skin in the game" except to try to make the article communicate more clearly in its presentation of the facts. Thanks for your input, Miki.THX1136 (talk) 01:46, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

Claim Conflict
In the lead section it claims Rea first made it into the Top 10 with Road to Hell Pt 2. Later in the article it says The Road to Hell, which proceeded the Part 2 release, was his first No. 1 album. Both cannot be true. I removed the statement until it can be sorted out.THX1136 (talk) 19:14, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
 * You mistook a single with a studio album.--Miki Filigranski (talk) 20:07, 12 August 2019 (UTC)


 * Thank you for the clarification. Since the original sentence did not specify the nature of the release and there being an album by the same name I assumed it was referring to the album. My error and apologies. I did do another edit to the sentence to clarify the release as being a single since the restored sentence does not make that clear to the reader who may not have any knowledge of Rea's discography. Again, I appreciate your input Miki.THX1136 (talk) 01:38, 14 August 2019 (UTC)