Chris Rea fans moved to tears by the BBC’s touching on air tribute for the Driving Home for Christmas singer following his death aged 74

Chris Rea fans burst into tears after the BBC paid tribute to the late singer live on Tuesday following his death.

The star behind one of the most iconic Christmas songs, Driving Home For Christmas, died on Monday at the age of 74 after a brief illness.

His legendary song was the opening song of the pre-recorded festival addition to BBC One’s Animal Park with Ben Fogle and Kate Humble.

With this in mind, BBC bosses aired a short tribute to mark Chris’ passing before the episode began playing.

Continuity announcer Duncan Newmarch said just before the headlines: ‘First up on BBC One, Chris Rea is very much on our minds this morning.’

He later wrote on his old Twitter account,

‘First up on BBC One, Chris Rea was very much on our minds this morning,’ the company’s continuity announcer said just before his song opened Animal Park.

The star behind one of the most iconic Christmas songs, Driving Home For Christmas, died on Monday at the age of 74 after a brief illness.

She was moved to tears as one member of the audience commented: ‘Oh, that made me cry. Very touching’;

‘Very convenient and appropriate’; ‘This is a very clever and beautiful 11 ​​seconds. Bravo’; ‘What a wonderful tribute’.

Announcing his death on Monday, his wife Joan and daughters Josie and Julia released the following statement: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.

‘He passed away peacefully in hospital with his family by his side earlier today following a short illness.’

The iconic song Driving Home for Christmas has reappeared in the UK Singles Chart every year since 2007, reaching number 10 in 2021.

Middlesbrough-born Chris met Joan when he was just 16 years old. He faced serious health problems such as peritonitis, pancreatic cancer and diabetes. In 2017, it was revealed that he had to inject insulin seven times a day.

Chris’s last social media post featured a car on a snowy highway with a road sign reading ‘Coming home for Christmas with a thousand memories’.

She captioned her post on Sunday: ‘If it’s a head-to-toe white Christmas in the dumps, let’s hope the journey is smooth.’

Tearful fans praise BBC’s live tribute

Announcing his death on Monday, his wife Joan and daughters Josie and Julia released a statement (pictured in 2016)

Chris’s last social media post featured a car on a snowy highway with a road sign reading ‘Going home for Christmas with a thousand memories’.

Chris suffered a major health scare during his career when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of 33.

Part of his pancreas was removed, along with part of his gallbladder and liver, but he continued to recover and lived with diabetes as well as kidney problems.

He himself suffered a stroke in 2016 but recovered and released two more albums, Road Songs For Lovers in 2017 and One Fine Day in 2019.

Chris previously revealed: ‘I’ve had nine major surgeries in ten years. Many of them are related to something called retroperitoneal fibrosis, in which internal tissues attack each other. 20 years ago no one knew this existed and it is completely unpredictable.

‘It affected the colon, pancreas, gallbladder and liver and then I had a stroke.’

Speaking about his achievements and the impact on his health, he said: ‘I’ve made a lot of money, but you can dangerously let that drive you…

‘It depends on what friendship you have. ‘I’m the poorest man on the coast of Barbados,’ I once told Michael Winner. On days like today, the richest man in the world is the one who doesn’t have a bad shoulder.’

As Chris said before, he shed light on the writing of the iconic tune. Bob Mortimer: ‘I was on unemployment when I wrote it [Driving Home For Christmas]. My manager left me. I had just been banned from driving.

‘My now wife, Joan, had to go to London to pick me up in the Mini and take me home, and that’s when I wrote.’