Born Christopher John Davison in Buenos Aires, Argentina (he is the son of a British diplomat and an Irish secretary), his father's career moved the family to numerous places around the globe such as Malta, Nigeria, and Zaire. At the age of twelve, the family returned home to live in Tomhaggard in County Wexford, Ireland, where his father bought the twelfth century Bargy Castle and converted it into a hotel.

A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, as a performer, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his stage name. Performing songs crossed between Driving Rock and Middle of the Road catchy pop, De Burgh is most famous for his single "Lady in Red" from the album Into the Light. For that album, released in 1986, he included the song "For Rosanna" he had written to celebrate the 1984 birth of his daughter. Rosanna Davison won the Miss World title in 2003. He also has two sons named Hubie and Michael by his wife Diane.

His songs have appeared in films as diverse as Arthur 2 , American Psycho and Dodgeball and his records have sold more than forty million units internationally. On tour he is known to the crew as stumpy due to his lack of inches.