Chris Rea

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Chris Rea has died at the age of 74(Image: Redferns)

Chris Rea became the third of his siblings to die within just three months, it has emerged.

The singer’s family expressed their “awful pain” at the third recent tragedy following the star’s death this week. Chris’ older sister Camille Whitaker, 79, said the youngest of her six siblings, Nicholas, passed away in a Yorkshire hospital in October from brain cancer at the age of 66. Then, just days after his funeral, Camille’s twin sister Geraldine Milward died suddenly.

And Chris, who was from Middlesbrough, Teesside, passed away this week, after the recent birth of a first grandchild. Speaking last night, Camille said: “It is an awful pain. It is gut-wrenching what happened. The family has been quite shocked by it. It is tragic. We can’t sort of get around it.”

Chris, whose songs include the festive favourite Driving Home For Christmas, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had his pancreas removed in 2001, and in 2016 he suffered a stroke.

Chris, pictured with his daughter Josephine, had a short illness

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Chris, pictured with his daughter Josephine, had a short illness(Image: Getty Images)

The singer is pictured performing at a gig in Berlin in 2017

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The singer is pictured performing at a gig in Berlin in 2017(Image: Redferns)

Chris, one of seven siblings, was able to experience the joyous news of the birth of a grandson recently. The musician, who wrote Driving Home For Christmas after travelling from London to Middlesbrough for the festive period in 1978, remained close to his family throughout his life, it is said.

Talking to the Daily Mail, Camille continued: “He lived with his wife and children in Buckinghamshire. He always kept very close to his family. 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. Christopher had terrible, terrible health and has been unwell for sometime before he died.”

Chris Rea was one of seven children, with his sister Camille reacting to the triple family tragedy

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Chris Rea was one of seven children, with his sister Camille reacting to the triple family tragedy(Image: Alamy Stock Photo)

Indeed, the dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had his pancreas removed in 2001, and in 2016 he suffered a stroke. These health battles came after Chris found fame in the late 1970s and 1980s with hits such as Fool (If You Think It’s Over), Let’s Dance and The Road To Hell. Driving Home For Christmas was released in 1988, some 10 years after Chris came up with the idea, but only reached number 53 in the charts initially, beaten by some distance to number one by Mistletoe and Wine by Cliff Richard.

Nevertheless, it has had a resurgence in the decades since and, in part thanks to the streaming services, has reappeared in the UK Singles Chart every year since 2007.

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Chris Rea photographed at Abbey Road Studios in London

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The rock musician’s songs include Driving Home For Christmas(Image: Future via Getty Images)

Camille last spoke to her brother on the phone six days before he died. Describing the singer as “a very shy and quiet man,” Camille said they and the rest of their siblings had a humble upbringing in Middlesbrough.

Their dad, who was Italian and moved to the UK, worked at an ice cream factory and café chain in the town. Chris wanted to become a journalist but found his calling in music and, by the late 1970s, released tunes professionally.

Driving Home for Christmas was quickly followed by The Road to Hell, also inspired by Chris’ frustrations of traffic on motorways in rush hour. It was praised for “for being irredeemably depressing”.