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Bob Mortimer pays tribute to Chris Rea after star made final TV appearance on his fishing show
Bob Mortimer paid tribute on X on Monday, describing Chris Rea as a 'lovely brilliant funny giant of a bloke.'
The pair, both from the North East, developed a firm friendship and recorded a version of Rea's 'Let’s Dance' in 1997, while Rea made his last TV appearance on Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing in 2020.
Rea's career included the release of more than two dozen studio albums, with major health issues in 2001 and 2016 affecting his work, despite selling over 40 million records.
Mortimer's comic anecdotes about Rea quickly circulated on social media after his post, with fans re-sharing the egg-in-the-bath story and tributes highlighting Chris Rea's music legacy.
Rea's family said he died peacefully in hospital following a short illness and is survived by his wife Joan and daughters Josephine and Julia; he was 74.
The singer and guitarist, whose albums "The Road to Hell" and "Auberge" had been at the top of the rankings in the United Kingdom, died on 22 December at 74 years of age.