# Rea Garvey

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" 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.

## Career
### 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, Rea 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 signs 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 makes it into the top ten. The debut album Tuesday follows two months later. It reaches number five in 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 achieve 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" 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 in 2011. The latter was a multi-platinum success, following the break-up with his former band Reamonn in early 2011.
Garvey was also one of the four coaches on the German version of The Voice, The Voice of Germany for season 1-2, 4-5, 9-10 and 12. 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' placing first with 116 points out of 16 songs.

## Personal life

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

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | AUT | GER | SWI | Certifications |
| Can't Stand the Silence | Released: 30 September 2011 Label: Island Formats: CD, digital download | 25 | 4 | 23 | BVMI: Platinum |
| Pride | Released: 2 May 2014 Label: Island Formats: CD, digital download | 12 | 5 | 9 | BVMI: Platinum |
| Prisma | Released: 2 October 2015 Label: Island Formats: CD, digital download | 13 | 2 | 18 | BVMI: Gold |
| Neon | Released: 23 March 2018 Label: Island Formats: CD, digital download | 7 | 2 | 7 | BVMI: Gold |
| Hy Brasil | Released: 20 November 2020 Label: Island Formats: CD, digital download | 14 | 7 | 7 | |
| Halo | Released: 13 September 2024 Label: Island Formats: CD, digital download | 13 | 6 | 6 | |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Year | Single | AUT | GER | SWI | Certifications | Album |
| 2008 | "Hallelujah" | 58 | — | — | | Barfuss soundtrack |
| 2011 | "Can't Stand the Silence" | 65 | 17 | — | IFPI AUT: Platinum | Can't Stand the Silence |
| 2012 | "Colour Me In" | 28 | 12 | 46 | | Can't Stand the Silence |
| 2012 | "Heart of an Enemy" | — | 47 | — | | Can't Stand the Silence |
| 2012 | "Wild Love" | 6 | 18 | 60 | BVMI: Gold | Can't Stand the Silence — The Encore |
| 2014 | "Can't Say No" | 41 | 32 | 49 | | Pride |
| 2014 | "Oh My Love" (featuring Amy Macdonald) | 36 | 35 | 42 | | Pride |
| 2015 | "It's a Good Life" | — | 43 | 40 | | Pride |
| 2015 | "War" | — | — | — | | Prisma |
| 2015 | "Armour" | — | 86 | — | | Prisma |
| 2015 | "Stronger Than Ever" (MarieMarie & Rea Garvey) | — | 85 | — | | Non-album single |
| 2015 | "Fire" | — | — | — | | Prisma |
| 2018 | "Is It Love?" (featuring Kool Savas) | 18 | 20 | 12 | BVMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Gold | Neon |
| 2018 | "Hometown" | — | — | 94 | | Neon |
| 2018 | "Beautiful Life" | — | — | — | | Neon |
| 2018 | "Kiss Me" | — | 91 | 39 | | Neon |
| 2019 | "Let's Be Lovers Tonight" | — | — | — | | Neon |
| 2020 | "Talk to Your Body" | — | — | — | | Hy Brasil |
| 2020 | "Hey Hey Hey" | — | — | — | | Hy Brasil |
| 2020 | "The One" (featuring Vize) | 20 | 54 | — | BVMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Gold | Hy Brasil |
| 2021 | "Rose" | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| 2021 | "Love Makes You Shine" (with YouNotUs & Kush Kush) | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| 2022 | "Best Bad Friend" (with Michael Patrick Kelly) | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| 2023 | "Free Like the Ocean" | — | — | — | | Halo |
| 2023 | "Perfect in My Eyes" | — | — | — | | Halo |
| 2024 | "Somewhere Close to Heaven" (with Picture This) | — | — | — | | Halo |
| 2024 | "Halo" | — | — | — | | Halo |

#### As featured artist

| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Year | Single | AUT | GER | SWI | Certifications | Album |
| 2001 | "Be Angeled" (Jam & Spoon featuring Rea Garvey) | 15 | 16 | 53 | | be.angeled soundtrack |
| 2004 | "Set Me Free (Empty Rooms)" (Jam & Spoon featuring Rea Garvey) | 57 | 22 | — | | Tripomatic Fairtales 3003 |
| 2006 | "Liam" (In Extremo featuring Rea Garvey) | — | 51 | — | | Mein rasend Herz |
| 2006 | "All Good Things (Come to an End)" (Nelly Furtado featuring Rea Garvey) | 1 | 1 | 1 | BVMI: Platinum | Loose |
| 2007 | "Let Go" (Paul van Dyk featuring Rea Garvey) | — | 21 | — | | In Between |
| 2010 | "Each Tear" (Mary J. Blige featuring Rea Garvey) | — | — | — | | Stronger with Each Tear |
| 2011 | "Heroes" (with Nena, Xavier Naidoo & The BossHoss) | 50 | 28 | — | | Die Highlights |

## Awards

* 2010: Echo: In the category Honour Echo for Social Engagement'
* 2012: Diva: In the category Music Artist of the Year