If cancer hadn't nearly
killed me, I’d be just another selfish celebrity egomaniac, says Chris Rea
By Garth Pearce
Last updated at 9:27 AM on 29th September 2009
Chris Rea has good reason
to feel cheated by illness.
The man tipped to be
After a life-saving
operation, which involved removing his pancreas and 14in of colon, he became a
diabetic.
Rock
star ego: Singer Chris Rea says that his illness helped him realise that
success is not measured by money
In the 15 years since, he
has had nine operations to cure blockages in his colon or to deal with
inflammation or abscesses.
Only last year he had yet
more surgery when his kidney swelled to five times its normal size.
Rea, 58, has had to put his
career on hold so many times in the unforgiving music
business that he could be expected to talk about it with bitterness or regret.
But he views his experience
as a lesson for life.
‘If this hadn’t happened, I
could have become as big a pain in the backside as any other celeb,’ he says, talking in detail about his health
problems for the first time.
‘I was typical, in that it
was all about me and my own selfish world.’
Rea’s first hit, Fool If
You Think It’s Over established him as an upcoming
star. His
blues voice and talent earned him a fortune during the Eighties, with songs
such as On The Beach and Josephine.
By early 1994, he seemed to
have it all: No 1 albums, a career in the
He and his wife Joan, his
school sweetheart, were enjoying the trappings of enormous wealth with their
daughters Josephine, now 26, and Julia, 20.
Before
his illness, Chris Rea was set to tour the
‘I thought those were the
glory days, when life could not have been better,’ he says.
But then he started
suffering stomach upsets after meals.
‘Cancer in the stomach area
always seems to start with being asked to drink a bottle of something that
tastes like peppermint,’ he says.
‘The doctors say: “Try
this. Don’t eat curry and don’t eat spicy foods.” But it got worse. I began to
feel real pain and started getting high temperatures.’
His GP referred him to
hospital, where he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
This has one of the highest
mortality rates of all cancers — most patients die within six months because
the symptoms are often detected too late and it spreads rapidly.
He was fortunate because
the disease had been detected early enough for him to have surgery.
For Rea, then 44, and
apparently at the height of his fitness as well as his fame, the diagnosis was
a shock.
‘I didn’t know how to
react, apart from being laid completely low. But I hoped, once it was over, I
would come back as before.’
During the operation, known
as whipple procedure or pancreatoduodenectomy
— ‘I couldn’t pronounce it and couldn’t spell it’ — surgeons removed the head
of
the pancreas, a portion of the bile duct and stomach, as well as some of his
colon.
The pancreas is important
for digestion, producing insulin which helps mop up excess sugar from the
blood.
While the operation to
remove the cancer was deemed a success, removing part of his pancreas meant
Chris was no longer producing insulin, and so since the surgery he has been
diabetic.
Still, he had no reason to
think he wouldn’t recover fully, but it was not to be.
He
has returned to hospital again and again as a result of having undergone such
major surgery, though he tries to make light of it.
‘I have lost count and
don’t keep dates,’ he says. ‘I suffer from inflammation and the breakdown of a
certain kind of tissue. Or, at least, that’s what I’m told.
‘Why did it happen in the
first place? The wrong kind of DNA, I think. I get another thing, called pseudo
blockage. Because I had so much colon removed, there are cavities where things
used to be. So the colon can twist and block.’
This requires surgery.
‘Then, last year, I had a
problem flare up between the bladder and kidney and I was in for eight weeks.
‘I had to have an emergency
operation because one of my kidneys had swelled to five times its size. They
put a pipe in my bladder to put in steroids to “de-flame” the area.’
Rea is now talking about
his problems partly to put them on record and to prove that despite such
setbacks, it’s important for patients not to give up.
Indeed, his work rate has
hardly slowed down: he is releasing a two-CD greatest hits
set and there is to be a new album next year, along with an autobiography, The
Road
To Hell And Back.
He’s going on a European
tour in January, with a series of British dates in March.
‘Why did it happen in the first place? The wrong kind
of DNA, I think'
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But he says the most important
lessons he’s learned from his illness is the importance of setting aside his
rock star ego and concentrating on what really matters.
‘I have found out who are
my real friends, thanks to the illness and hospitals,’ he says.
‘I remember one old friend
from my home town of
Rea began to understand
this as successive illnesses and operations began to eat away at his career and
bank balance.
‘The thing that frustrated
me is that some people think success is all measured by money,’ he says.
‘I have nearly died — and
have seen what is real. It was not anything to do with the money.
‘So I’ve started to get to
know people in the village where I live for the first time.
Otherwise, I’d be like one
of the many who open the security gates, leave for
‘I walk around,
have cups of tea with the lady opposite — there never seemed to be any time to
do that before. It is hard to get me out of the village now — not because I’m a
recluse, but because I like being there.
‘It has been a long
learning curve. I almost had a nervous breakdown in the Nineties.
'I was going to tour the
He was pretty low, not
least because he was having to wear a temporary
colostomy bag.
‘I went down to seven
stone. I met Shirley Bassey and she said: “You’ve
lost weight.”
‘I was forced to find
pastimes that meant something, so I started painting. And I grow
tomatoes.
'Most important of all,
I’ve learned how to be happy. And I am happiest just being at home.’
After he ‘saw the light’,
his life improved.
‘People were going around
our house saying: “What’s the matter with him? He’s not
ranting any more.’’ ’
'Most important of all, I’ve learned how to themebe happy.
And I am happiest just being at home’
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In fact, Rea has one of the
longest relationships in the music industry.
‘Joan has had to put up
with a lot,’ he says. ‘It’s different sharing your life with someone who
performs to an audience.
‘There is an ego involved —
when you give an opinion, people are supposed to listen. But, now, our golden
moment in the morning is making the coffee. We watch the breakfast news, gaze
out of our window for an hour and we are 16 again.’
Rea has also gone back to
his first love, performing blues.
‘There are people in this
business with the sole aim of being rich and famous,’ he says.
‘But none of my heroes were
rock stars. The first time I arrived in
'I was disappointed to see
the people I’d always thought of as pop stars. They would charge around the
stage rather than enjoy the music.
‘Once I faced the fact I
was going to deal with illness for the rest of my life, I got on with what I
really wanted to do.’
Meanwhile, Rea gets on with
coping with the side-effects of his operations, including the seven insulin
injections he needs daily.
When we meet, I notice his
left elbow is bandaged.
‘I’m having cortisone
injections — I’ve done in my arm doing too many press-ups,’ he says, but he
looks fit and healthy.
‘I train five times a week,
to keep my circulation going. I can forget I was ever ill.’
He also makes light of the
huge tour that lies ahead.
‘Touring is easy, because
we are spoilt rotten,’ he says. ‘If you are a musician at the top end, it’s
fun. I do it for pure pleasure, not because it is my reason for being.
‘I’m not a saint. It has
taken a life-threatening illness and a series of operations to get to the point
I am now. I would not wish what I’ve had on anyone. But many celebrities could
do with facing their own mortality.’
● Come So Far, Yet
So Far to Go: The Best Of Chris Rea, is released on
October 5.
View all
I never
knew that Chris had been this ill. I grew up in
Great to
see a true local hero fighting back and comming back
to what he loves - and does so well! Chris has always been a true inspiration
to us Boro lads!
Golden
voice, I love his songs... Pray he stays strong and healthy and we get to
listen to more of his voice.
What a
complete gent this guy is. I have all his music and he has been a constant
companion since I was 17 years old.
His humility in the the face of his serious illness
is a lesson to us all. How easy it would be to get all bitter and twisted.
After such a huge contribution to the British music industry, and his humility
and optimism in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, it is my opinion
we should be addressing him as Sir Chris Rea. PM please take note!
Mark, Ex pat,
-"Don't
forget, those people in Tin Pan Alley will always be your acquaintances - never
your friends.'' -
Chris - don't forget that all your millions of fans will always be your friends
and fans - no matter how much time goes by - we've waited and you are so
welcome back and may good health prevail! You're awsome!
When he
first got ill, I had just had the last of what had been my 10 operations ( in my case stomach and kidneys, of which 3 organs I only
have one kidney left ) I was in hospital in 1993/4 for 16 months and those days
it was a walkman with headphones and Chris Rea's blues kept me going during
some really dark and long periods.I have the greatest
respect ( and empathy !! ) with and for him. He was always a sort of
mental" big brother, " given he is some 18
years older than myself.I have checked up annually to
make sure he is still OK. Am delighted to read from this here that he is..
. I look forward to his tour and new album and wish him well. Great guy and very inspiring a survivor. Well done,sir.