Chris Rea / discography

Chris Rea, 2010

This discography is an overview of the released records of the British singer Chris Rea . According to sources and record awards, he has sold more than 12.1 million records in his career, including over 5.9 million in his home country alone. Rea's most successful release is The Road to Hell, with over three million units sold.

Albums

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1978	Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?	-	-	-	-	US49 gold (12 weeks)US	First published: July 1978 Producer: Gus Dudgeon
1979	Deltics	-	-	-	UK54 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 1979 Producer: Gus Dudgeon
1980	tennis	-	-	-	UK60 (1 week) UK	-	First published: March 1980 Producer: Chris Rea
1982	Chris Rea	-	-	-	UK52 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1982 Producers: Chris Rea, Jon Kelly
1983	Water sign	DE30 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	UK64 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1983 Producers: Chris Rea, Dave Richards
1984	Wired to the moon	DE17 (25 weeks) DE	-	-	UK35 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 1984 Producers: Chris Rea, Dave Richards
1985	Shamrock Diaries	DE12 gold (46 weeks)DE	-	CH18 (5 weeks) CH	UK15th silver (14 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 1985 Producers: Chris Rea, Dave Richards
1986	On the beach	DE2 gold (37 weeks)DE	AT20 (2 weeks) AT	CH10 (15 weeks) CH	UK11 platinum (48 weeks)UK	-	First published: April 1986 Producers: Chris Rea, Dave Richards
1987	Dancing with Strangers	DE5 gold (29 weeks)DE	AT13 (10 weeks) AT	CH7 (9 weeks) CH	UK2 platinum (46 weeks)UK	-	First published: September 1987 Producer: Chris Rea
1989	The Road to Hell	DE3 × 3 Triple gold (38 weeks)DE	AT2 platinum (26 weeks)AT	CH6th platinum (27 weeks)CH	UK1 × 6 Six-fold platinum (79 weeks)UK	US107 (19 weeks) US	First published: October 1989 Producers: Chris Rea, Jon Kelly
1991	Auberge	DE1 platinum (48 weeks)DE	AT5 gold (13 weeks)AT	CH2 platinum (22 weeks)CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (37 weeks)UK	US176 (1 week) US	First published: February 1991 Producer: Jon Kelly
1992	God's Great Banana Skin	DE16 gold (17 weeks)DE	AT26th gold (2 weeks)AT	CH16 (12 weeks) CH	UK4th platinum (15 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 1992 Producer: Chris Rea
1993	Espresso Logic	DE14th gold (20 weeks)DE	AT16 (10 weeks) AT	CH24 (11 weeks) CH	UK8th gold (10 weeks)UK	-	First published: November 1993 Producer: Chris Rea
1996	La passione	DE60 (7 weeks) DE	AT44 (1 week) AT	-	UK43 silver (6 weeks)UK	-	First release: November 1996 Soundtrack to Chris Rea's film of the same name. Producer: Chris Rea
1998	The Blue Cafe	DE7 (23 weeks) DE	AT20 (9 weeks) AT	CH28 (9 weeks) CH	UK10 silver (8 weeks)UK	-	First published: January 1998 Producer: Chris Rea
1999	The Road to Hell Part 2	DE16 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH96 (1 week) CH	UK54 silver (2 weeks)UK	-	First published: November 1999 Producer: Kiadan KQ Quinn
2000	King of the Beach	DE11 (8 weeks) DE	AT13 (12 weeks) AT	CH29 (6 weeks) CH	UK26 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 2000 Producer: Chris Rea
2002	Stony Road (DE, AT, CH) Dancing Down the Stoney Road (UK)	DE11 (13 weeks) DE	AT18 (5 weeks) AT	CH28 (6 weeks) CH	UK14th gold (9 weeks)UK	-	First published: September 2002 Producer: Chris Rea
2004	The Blue Jukebox	DE30 (5 weeks) DE	AT41 (4 weeks) AT	CH49 (5 weeks) CH	UK27 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 2004 Producer: Kiadan KQ Quinn
2005	Blue Guitars 11 CDs + DVD	-	-	-	UK85 (1 week) UK	-	First published: October 14, 2005 including Earbook picture book with paintings by Chris Rea Producers: Chris Rea, Andy Wilman
2011	Santo Spirito Blues	DE10 (4 weeks) DE	AT30 (1 week) AT	CH31 (3 weeks) CH	UK13 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 5th, 2011 Producer: Chris Rea
2017	Road Songs for Lovers	DE19 (5 weeks) DE	AT22 (2 weeks) AT	CH18 (5 weeks) CH	UK11 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 29, 2017 Producer: Chris Rea

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More studio albums

• 1984: Ace of Hearts (Mini-Album - Volume I)
• 1985: Stainsby Girls (Mini-Album - Volume II)
• 1986: It's All Gone (Mini-Album - Volume III)
• 2003: Blue Street (Five Guitars)
• 2003: Hofner Blue Notes
• 2008: Chris Rea Presents: The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes (also as an Earbook with 3 CDs + 2 vinyl EPs)

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2006	The Road to Hell & Back double album	DE18 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK34 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 2006 Producer: Simon Honywill

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1986	Palpitations	DE5 gold (19 weeks)DE	-	-	-	-	First publication: September 1986 only published in Germany
1988	New Light Through Old Windows: The Best of Chris Rea	DE9 platinum (23 weeks)DE	AT7th gold (37 weeks)AT	CH24 gold (4 weeks)CH	UK5 × 3 Triple platinum (56 weeks)UK	US92 (13 weeks) US	First published: October 1988 Producers: Chris Rea, Jon Kelly
1994	The Best of Chris Rea	DE4th platinum (28 weeks)DE	AT- platinum AT	CH6th platinum (17 weeks)CH	UK3 platinum (21 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 1994
2001	The very best of	DE60 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK69 gold (2 weeks)UK	-	First published: November 2001
2005	Heartbeats: Greatest Hits	-	-	CH54 (3 weeks) CH	UK24 silver (6 weeks)UK	-	First published: July 2005
2008	Fool If You Think It's Over: The Definitive Greatest Hits	DE98 (1 week) DE	-	CH98 (1 week) CH	-	-	First published: September 2008
2009	Still so far to go ... the best of	DE37 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK8th gold (7 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 2009
2012	The Journey 1978-2009	-	-	-	UK66 gold (16 weeks)UK	-	First published: January 2012

More compilations

• 1983: Kid Jensen Plays Chris Rea (DJ-style Rea hits)
• 1998: The Best of Chris Rea
• 2005: (Blue Guitars) sampler
• 2006: The Platinum Collection (UK:silver)
• 2007: (Blue Guitars) - A Collection of Songs (2 CDs)
• 2007: The Ultimate Collection 1978–2000 (box with 3 CDs)
• 2007: The Works: A 3 CD Retrospective (3 CDs)
• 2010: Original Album Series (box with 5 CDs)
• 2013: The Triple Album Collection (box with 3 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1978	Fool (If You Think It's Over) Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?	-	-	-	UK30 (7 weeks) UK	US12 (15 weeks) US	First published: March 17, 1978 Author: Chris Rea
	Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?	-	-	-	-	US71 (4 weeks) US	First published: June 16, 1978 Author: Chris Rea
1979	Diamonds Deltics	-	-	-	UK44 (3 weeks) UK	US44 (8 weeks) US	First published: March 23, 1979 Author: Chris Rea
1982	Loving You Chris Rea	-	-	-	UK65 (3 weeks) UK	US88 (3 weeks) US	First published: February 1982 Author: Chris Rea
1983	Let It Loose Water Sign	-	-	-	UK85 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1983 Author: Chris Rea
	I Can Hear Your Heartbeat Water Sign	-	-	-	UK60 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 1983 Author: Chris Rea
1984	I Don't Know What It Is but I Love It Wired to the Moon	-	-	-	UK65 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1984 Author: Chris Rea
	Touche d'amour Wired to the Moon	DE46 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK86 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 1984 Author: Chris Rea
	Ace of Hearts Wired to the Moon	-	-	-	UK78 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 1984 Author: Chris Rea
1985	Stainsby Girls Shamrock Diaries	-	-	-	UK26 (12 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1985 Author: Chris Rea
	Josephine Shamrock Diaries	DE31 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK67 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1985 Author: Chris Rea
1986	It's All Gone On the Beach	-	-	-	UK69 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1986 Author: Chris Rea
	On the Beach On the Beach	-	-	-	UK57 (11 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1986 Author: Chris Rea
	Hello Friend On the Beach	-	-	-	UK79 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1986 Author: Chris Rea
1987	Let's Dance Dancing with Strangers	DE19 (14 weeks) DE	-	CH22 (4 weeks) CH	UK12 (10 weeks) UK	US81 (5 weeks) US	First published: May 1987 Author: Chris Rea
	Loving You Again Dancing with Strangers	DE43 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK47 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 1987 Author: Chris Rea
	Joys of Christmas Dancing with Strangers	-	-	-	UK67 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1987 Author: Chris Rea
1988	Que sera dancing with strangers	DE71 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK73 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 1988 Author: Chris Rea
	On the Beach (Summer '88)	-	-	-	UK12 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 1988
	I Can Hear Your Heartbeat '88	-	-	-	UK74 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1988
	Driving Home for Christmas New Light Through Old Windows	DE5 (58 weeks) DE	AT4 (38 weeks) AT	CH12 (17 weeks) CH	UK11 platinum (56 weeks)UK	-	First publication: November 1988 first chart entry in DE only in December 2002 first chart entry in AT only in December 2008 first chart entry in CH chart data only given in December 2007 contain various re-entries Author: Chris Rea
1989	Working On It New Light Through Old Windows	-	-	-	UK53 (4 weeks) UK	US73 (7 weeks) US	First published: January 1989 Author: Chris Rea
	The Road to Hell (Part 2) The Road to Hell	DE35 (21 weeks) DE	AT6 (15 weeks) AT	-	UK10 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 2nd, 1989 Author: Chris Rea
	That's What They Always Say The Road to Hell	-	-	-	UK83 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1989 Author: Chris Rea
1990	Tell Me There's a Heaven The Road to Hell	-	AT11 (9 weeks) AT	-	UK24 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 1990 Author: Chris Rea
	Texas The Road to Hell	-	-	-	UK69 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: April 1990 Author: Chris Rea
1991	Auberge Auberge	DE20 (26 weeks) DE	AT29 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK16 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1991 Author: Chris Rea
	Heaven Auberge	DE94 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK57 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1991 Author: Chris Rea
	Looking for the Summer Auberge	DE51 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK49 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1991 Author: Chris Rea
	Winter Song (EP)	-	-	-	UK27 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1991 Author: Chris Rea
1992	Nothing to Fear God’s Great Banana Skin	-	-	CH38 (1 week) CH	UK16 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1992 Author: Chris Rea
	God's Great Banana Skin God’s Great Banana Skin	DE59 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	UK31 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1992 Author: Chris Rea
1993	Soft Top Hard Shoulder God’s Great Banana Skin	DE54 (10 weeks) DE	-	-	UK53 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 18, 1993 Author: Chris Rea
	Julia Espresso Logic	DE40 (25 weeks) DE	-	-	UK18 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 11, 1993 Author: Chris Rea
1994	You Can Go Your Own Way The Best of Chris Rea	-	-	-	UK28 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 31, 1994 Author: Chris Rea
1996	'Disco' la passione La passione	-	-	-	UK41 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1996 with Shirley Bassey , author: Chris Rea
	Girl in a sports car La passione	DE91 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK77 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1996 Author: Chris Rea
1997	Let's Dance Up the Boro! 20 Middlesbrough FC Classics	-	-	-	UK44 (2 weeks) UK	-	First release: May 1997 Middlesbrough FC feat. Bob Mortimer and Chris Rea
	The Blue Cafe The Blue Cafe	DE53 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: November 1997 Author: Chris Rea
1998	Square Peg, Round Hole The Blue Cafe	-	-	-	UK80 (1 week) UK	-	First published: February 1998 Author: Chris Rea
	Thinking of You The Blue Cafe	DE84 (8 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: March 1998 Author: Chris Rea
	Sweet Summer Day The Blue Cafe	DE71 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: June 1998 Author: Chris Rea
2000	All Summer Long King of the Beach	-	-	-	UK78 (1 week) UK	-	First published: September 2000 Author: Chris Rea

More singles

1974: So Much Love (released May 31) 1979: Raincoat and a Rose (release: June 29th) 1979: Seabird 1979: Don't Want Your Best Friend (release: July) 1980: Tennis (release: March 7th) 1980: Dancing Girls (release: May) 1980: Since I Don't See You Anymore (release: August) 1982: Every Beat of My Heart (released May) 1982: Goodbye Little Colombus 1983: Love's Strange Ways (release: July) 1984: Bombollini (release: May) 1986: Bitter Sweet 1986: Gonna Buy That Hat 1986: Giverny 1993: Too Much Pride (New Version) (Release: April)

1994: Espresso Logic (release: January 31) 1994: Johnny Needs a Fast Car 1997: Only to Fly 1999: New Times Square 2001: Who Do You Love 2001: Your Love Is Setting Me Free (Watermen meets Chris Rea) 2002: Dancing the Blues Away 2002: A Clear Day (St. Swithun's Day) (with David Knopfler ) 2003: My Peace Will Come 2004: Baby Don't Cry 2008: Presents: The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes 2009: Come so Far, Yet Still so Far to Go 2011: The Chance of Love

Video albums

• 2002: Stony Road: Original Version (double DVD)
• 2006: The Road to Hell & Back: The Farewell Tour
• 2008: Stony Road: Diamond Edition

statistics

Chart evaluation

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one albums DE2DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US2US Top 10 albums DE9DE AT3AT CH5CH UK9UK US-US Albums in the charts DE23DE AT13AT CH17thCH UK27UK US4thUS

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one singles DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US-US Top 10 singles DE1DE AT2AT CH-CH UK1UK US-US Singles in the charts DE17thDE AT4thAT CH3CH UK39UK US6thUS

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Belgium 1998: for the album The Blue Cafe  Denmark 2013: for the Streaming Driving Home for Christmas  Finland 1990: for the album The Road to Hell 1991: for the album Auberge 1995: for the album The Best of Chris Rea 1998: for the album The Blue Cafe  France 1988: for the album New Light Through Old Windows: The Best of Chris Rea 1995: for the album On the Beach 1996: for the album Dancing with Strangers  Canada 1991: for the album The Road to Hell  New Zealand 1987: for the album Dancing with Strangers 1988: for the album New Light Through Old Windows: The Best of Chris Rea 2006: for the album Heartbeats: Greatest Hits  Netherlands 1986: for the album On the Beach 1991: for the album Auberge  Poland 1997: for the album The Best of Chris Rea 1998: for the album The Blue Cafe 2011: for the album Santo Spirito Blues  Sweden 1995: for the album The Best of Chris Rea

2 × gold record  France 1992: for the album Auberge 1996: for the album The Best of Chris Rea Platinum record  Denmark 2017: for the single Driving Home for Christmas  Europe 1996: for the album The Best of Chris Rea  France 1991: for the album The Road to Hell  New Zealand 1986: for the album On the Beach

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Belgium (BEA)	-	gold1	-	25,000	ultratop.be
Denmark (IFPI)	-	gold1	platinum1	90,000	ifpi.dk
Germany (BVMI)	-	7 × gold7th	4 × platinum4th	3,750,000	musikindustrie.de
Europe (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	(1,000,000)	ifpi.org
Finland (IFPI)	-	4 × gold4th	-	137.132	ifpi.fi
France (SNEP)	-	7 × gold7th	platinum1	1,000,000	infodisc.fr snepmusique.com
Canada (MC)	-	gold1	-	50,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	3 × gold3	platinum1	37,500	nztop40.co.nz
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	2 × gold2	-	100,000	nvpi.nl
Austria (IFPI)	-	3 × gold3	2 × platinum2	175,000	ifpi.at
Poland (ZPAV)	-	3 × gold3	-	110,000	bestsellery.zpav.pl
Sweden (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	50,000	sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	3 × platinum3	175,000	hitparade.ch
United States (RIAA)	-	gold1	-	500,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	6 × silver6th	5 × gold5	16 × platinum16	5,960,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	6 × silver6th	40 × gold40	29 × platinum29

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT CH DE UK1 UK2 US

Web links

• Chris Rea at Allmusic (English)
• Chris Rea at Discogs (English)