Name	Chris Rea
Height	5' 8"
Naionality	British
Date of Birth	4 March 1951
Place of Birth	Middlesborough, Cleveland, England, UK
Famous for

Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? was Rea's debut album, released in 1978 (see 1978 in music). The first single lifted from the album, "Fool (if You Think It's Over)", is his biggest hit in the United States, peaking at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching number one on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart. "Fool (if You Think It's Over)" was nominated for a "Song of the Year" Grammy, losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Unlike most of Rea's other singles, "Fool..." was not a great success on the UK Singles Chart, failing to chart on its first release and only reaching number thirty when re-released in late 1978 to capitalise on its U.S. success. A cover of "Fool..." by Kenny Craddock was used as the theme for BBC sitcom Joking Apart.

The title of the album is a reference to a name Rea's UK record label (Magnet) had considered christening him with to make him sound more attractive commercially.

Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? was produced by Gus Dudgeon. Rea was reportedly dissatisfied with the final mix of the album; he later went some way to rectify this to his satisfaction, starting with 1988's greatest hits compilation New Light Through Old Windows, which featured a re-recorded version of "Fool...". Dudgeon went on to produce Rea's next effort,