EXCLUSIVE: The Pride-Filled Reason Late 'Driving Home for Christmas' Mastermind Chris Rea Never Meant to Write His Festive Smash
Chris Rea's Christmas classic almost never got released.
Dec. 23 2025, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Chris Rea never intended to write a Christmas song, fearing a seasonal ditty would undermine his credibility – but RadarOnline.com can reveal hard realities, including financial hardship led him to produce Driving Home for Christmas, now one of the most enduring festive hits of the holiday.
A Journey Born of Financial Struggle
Chris Rea wrote 'Driving Home for Christmas' during a bleak winter in 1978.
The Middlesbrough-born singer-songwriter, who has died aged 74 after a short illness on December 22, 2025, wrote the classic after being banned from driving and left unable to afford a train ticket home from London to Teesside in 1978.
At the time, Rea was struggling professionally, close to losing his record contract and newly abandoned by his manager, leaving his wife, Joan Rea, to drive hundreds of miles to collect him from the U.K.'s world-famous Abbey Road studios days before Christmas.
Rea later described the moment in words he repeated often during his career.
He said: "It was 1978, coming up to Christmas. It was all over for me – I was just about out of my record contract, and my manager had just told me he was leaving me. My wife got in our old Austin Mini, drove all the way down from Middlesbrough to Abbey Road studios to pick me up, and we set off back straight away."
Chris Rea Hesitated Releasing the Song as a Single
Rea thought up his Christmas classic while 'stuck in traffic.'
He continued: "Then it started snowing. We kept getting stuck in traffic, and I'd look across at the other drivers, who all looked so miserable. Jokingly, I started singing, 'We're driving home for Christmas...' then, whenever the street lights shone inside the car, I started writing down lyrics."
Despite the song's instant resonance, Rea resisted releasing it as a headline single, concerned a festive track would clash with his self-image as a serious blues musician.
Music industry figures close to the singer said his reluctance was rooted in pride rather than cynicism.
One former label executive told us, "Chris believed Christmas songs could cheapen an artist's reputation. He was determined to be judged on his songwriting, not seasonal novelty."
From B-Side to Holiday Staple
The track first appeared as a B-side and barely charted on release.
Driving Home for Christmas initially appeared as a B-side and, when finally released as a single in 1988, peaked at number 53 on the UK chart.
Its transformation into a perennial favorite came years later, driven by radio play and public affection rather than promotion.
Since 2007, the song has re-entered the U.K. chart every December, reaching number 10 in 2021.
Rea acknowledged the irony of the track's success with characteristic humor.
Speaking in 2016, he said: "If I'm ever stuck on the M25 – the 'Road To H---' – I'll wind the window down and start singing, 'I'm driving home for Christmas' at people in cars alongside. They love it. It's like giving them a present."
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The song re-entered the UK charts every December for years
He also recalled his initial reluctance to perform it live.
"I'd never played it live until one year at Hammersmith Odeon," he said, explaining how artificial snow machines filled the venue during a December concert, later leaving him with a hefty cleanup bill. Industry commentators said the song's backstory only deepened its appeal.
A source said, "It resonates because it wasn't manufactured. It came from a moment of struggle, pride, and family, and listeners feel that every time it plays."
Rea sold more than 30 million albums during a career defined by grit, blues influence, and storytelling – but it was a song he never meant to write that ultimately secured his place in Christmas music history.
