The unassuming semi-detached house in a Middlesbrough suburb that served as the poignant destination in Chris Rea's timeless festive anthem, 'Driving Home for Christmas', has been revealed. The song, which has become a staple of the holiday season, was penned in 1978 as the late musician was being driven the 212 miles from London back to his family home in the North by his wife.
The Family Home Behind the Festive Classic
Chris Rea, who passed away this week at the age of 74 after a short illness, lived in the house with his parents and several of his six siblings. The sense of family gathering was amplified as other relatives lived in the adjacent property, promising a large Rea family Christmas in 1978. A family member confirmed the song's origins, stating: 'The song was about driving to the family home in Middlesbrough. We would all always go home for Christmas, always.' They fondly recalled 'really, really wonderful Christmases' that directly inspired the track's nostalgic warmth.
The current owners of the house were unaware of its musical significance until after they moved in about two years ago. 'It was the neighbours who told us after we moved in,' said the couple, who have a newborn baby. 'We had the patio done and the neighbours were telling the lads doing the work that it used to be Chris Rea's house. It's nice to live in a famous house, that is known about in a song, all over the world.'
The Long Road to Christmas Chart Success
Despite being written in 1978, 'Driving Home for Christmas' was not released until 1986, and then only as the B-side to his single 'Hello Friend'. Its journey to becoming a festive essential was gradual. A re-recorded version featured on his 1988 compilation 'New Light Through Old Windows' and was released as a single, peaking at a modest number 53 on the UK Singles Chart.
However, the song's enduring appeal has seen it make a remarkable annual resurgence. It has re-entered the UK Singles Chart every year since 2007, climbing as high as number ten in 2021 and regularly featuring in the Top 10 Christmas singles. In a 2012 ITV poll, it was voted the nation's twelfth favourite Christmas song.
The Story of a Song Born in Traffic
The iconic track was born from a very real journey. Shortly before Christmas 1978, Rea needed to travel from Abbey Road Studios in London to Middlesbrough. His wife, Joan, drove down in her Austin Mini to collect him because it was cheaper than a train ticket—a necessity as Rea was recently out of contract and his record company refused to pay.
Stuck in heavy traffic with snow falling, Rea observed the other motorists. 'They all looked so miserable,' he later recalled. 'Jokingly, I started singing: "We're driving home for Christmas..." Then, whenever the streetlights shone inside the car, I started writing down lyrics.' He described the song as a 'car version of a carol' and initially intended it for Van Morrison, though he never managed to send it.
Rea notably refused to perform the song live until 2014 at Hammersmith Odeon. For that debut performance, he went all out, hiring 12 snow cannons that buried the stalls in three feet of artificial snow—a spectacle that cost him a £12,000 clean-up bill from the venue.
The song's popularity was further cemented by its use in Christmas commercials for supermarket chain Iceland in 1997, 1998, and 2011, the latter featuring a cover by Stacey Solomon. Today, as the song sits at number 30 in the UK charts, the modest Middlesbrough semi stands as a quiet testament to the family Christmas that inspired a global festive anthem.
