Rea Garvey

Biography

Raymond "Rea" Michael Garvey (born 3 May 1973) is an Irish singer, songwriter and guitarist based in Germany. In 1998, he formed the band Reamonn. Over the 11 years that Garvey was their frontman, they saw chart-topping success in Europe, with a number of gold and platinum selling albums, Tuesday, Dream No. 7, Beautiful Sky, Wish and Eleven and several sold out European tours. In 2010, after the release of the band's best-of album/DVD Eleven, and a best-of tour, the band parted ways. Garvey took this time to pursue a solo career, which gave birth to his first solo album Can't Stand the Silence×Can't Stand the Silence9 September 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Can't Stand the Silence (single version)3:372End of the Show7:14 in 2011. This album saw Garvey's transition from anthem rock with Reamonn, to alternative electro-pop.

Early life

Garvey was born on 3 May 1973 in Tralee, Ireland. He is the third of eight children and the only boy. His father works as a police chief, both parents are Catholic and very strict in their upbringing. By his own admission, Rea often went over the top in his youth – taking drugs, occasionally getting into fights, and getting arrested a few times – until he found a more moderate path with music.

Frontman

Garvey gained his first musical experience as frontman of the Dublin band The Reckless Pedestrians. In 1998, he immigrated to Germany without being able to speak German. In Upper Swabia, Garvey initially stayed with friends. He earned his living as a T-shirt salesman and roadie at music festivals.
At the same time, he placed an ad in the newspaper looking for people to join him in a band. Together with drummer Mike Gommeringer, keyboardist and saxophonist Sebastian Padotzke, guitarist Uwe Bossert and bassist Philipp Rauenbusch, he founded the band Reamonn in November of the same year. The band's name is derived from the Irish version of Garvey's first name, Réamonn. In June 1999, the band signed its first record deal.
In March 2000, the band Reamonn released their first single: "Supergirl" reached number four in the charts in Germany and Austria. In Switzerland, the song also made it into the top ten. The debut album Tuesday followed two months later. It reached number five on the German album charts. This is followed by over 200 sold-out concerts and two further albums (Dream No. 7, 2001 and Beautiful Sky, 2003), which achieved gold and platinum status.

Solo work

Garvey began working as a solo artist during his time with Reamonn and since then has written songs for a variety of acts, including Paul van Dyk, Jam and Spoon, Roger Cicero and The BossHoss. Rea has also collaborated with Apocalyptica, In Extremo, Nelly Furtado, Mary J Blige, Jam & Spoon, The BossHoss and ATB. In 2005, Rea collaborated with Nelly Furtado on the track "All Good Things (Come to an End)", for her 2006 album, Loose. The two also toured together in France and the Netherlands during 2007.
Garvey first showed his fascination with electronic music in 2001, on the title track "Be Angeled" for the movie Loveparade. This was the first of many collaborations with the DJ team Jam and Spoon. The song was performed for the first time in memory of Mark Spoon at the start of the Love Parade in July 2006. In 2007, Rea appeared on a track titled "Let Go×Let Go9 November 2007 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Let Go - Single Edit3:422Let Go - Vandit Club Mix By Pvd9:203Let Go - PvD Club Mix8:164Let Go - TV Rock Remix7:475Let Go - Martin Roth Nu‐Style Remix10:08" for Paul van Dyk's album In Between. Rea has also worked on a solo collaboration with Xavier Naidoo, with whom he recorded Falco's song "Jeanny" in 2002 and "My Child" for his solo debut album Can't Stand the Silence×Can't Stand the Silence9 September 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Can't Stand the Silence (single version)3:372End of the Show7:14 in 2011. The latter was a multi-platinum success, following the break-up with his former band Reamonn in early 2011.

Garvey has also been featured as one of the four coaches on the German version of The Voice, The Voice of Germany for seasons 1–2, 4–5, 9–10, 12, and 15–present. The winner of the second season was British singer-songwriter Nick Howard, who was on Garvey's team.
In 2005, Garvey together with Xavier Naidoo, Sasha and comedian Michael Mittermeier, paid tribute to the Rat Pack in a live performance called Alive & Swingin', in aid of Garvey's charity organisation, Saving an Angel. Due to its success, the four took to the stage again, in early 2011, to a sold-out tour. As the demand for the German Rat Pack grew, the four continued to tour in 2012 and, with their big band, were set to take another encore in 2014.
Garvey won the 2021 edition of the Free European Song Contest, a spin-off of the Eurovision Song Contest created by the German TV channel ProSieben to have a version of the original contest when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. He represented Ireland with his song "The One×The One13 November 2020 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1The One2:43" placing first with 116 points out of 16 songs.

Personal life

Garvey has been married to the German-Romanian Josephine (née Falticska) since 2002. The couple have a daughter, Aamor (born 2005), and a son, whose birth year is unknown. The family lives between Berlin and the Hessian village of Hadamar.