Eric Clapton is considered by some to be the best guitarist in the world. A blues rock player and successful songwriter he has had a successful career spanning nearly 50 years, has been awarded a CBE, won countless Grammys and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times.
Eric Clapton has created some of the most influential guitar playing in the world and has played with and has influenced many of the world’s best guitarists.
Eric Clapton was born in Ripley surrey in 1945. His father was a Canadian serviceman and he was bought up by his grandparents, believing them to be his real parents, and his mother to be his elder sister.
Eric Clapton started learning the guitar aged 13 and worked hard to master it, drawing inspiration from recordings of blues artists. In 1961, Eric Clapton attended the Kingston college of Art but was asked to leave because all his attention was on music.
Eric Clapton joined the blues band Yardbirds, leaving the band in 1965 because he feared they were becoming too commercial. Eric Clapton then played with a series of quality bands making a name for himself on the music scene and being rated as England’s best guitarist.
He formed the band Cream in 1966, along with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce. The band was a hard driving rock trio and released four albums between 1966 and 1969, which were “Fresh Cream” “Disraeli Gears” “Wheels of Fire” and “Goodbye” the final album released in 1969. Disraeli Gears is often considered the band’s finest work and contains hits such as “Strange Brew”.
Following the break up of Cream, Eric Clapton then formed Blind Faith, which was a short-lived attempt at another super group. Also featuring Ginger Baker on drums plus Steve Winwood and Ric Grech, this band lasted for just 7 months and produced one album and only one tour before breaking up. Many people consider that this band would have outshone Cream had it continued.
Derek and the Dominoes followed and was another short-lived affair. Their album, written by Eric Clapton charted his love affair with George Harrison’s wife Patti Boyd in the monster-selling hit Layla.
Throughout the 1980s ad 1990s Eric Clapton wrestled with problems of drug addiction and alcoholism as well as personal tragedy caused by the death of his young son Connor who fell to his death from a 53 storey apartment building.
Eric Clapton expressed his grief in the song “Tears in Heaven” on the acoustic album “Unplugged” winning him six Grammy awards in 1991.
However, relationship problems and addiction seemed to resolve when he met Melia McEnery in 1999 and married in 2002.
For the last few years, Eric Clapton’s private life seems to have calmed down. Now describing himself as a committed family man, he continues to make music, releasing albums, going on tour and organising the annual Eric Clapton Crossroads festival – aimed to raise money for a drug rehabilitation unit in Antigua.