He was born Eric Patrick Clapton in Ripley, Surrey, in 1945, the illegitimate son of Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer and 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton. Fryer returned to his wife in Canada before his son was born, and Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents, Rose and Jack Clapp, believing that his mother was his sister. His lack of identity is one reason he always related to the blues.
Clapton has been a member of The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos.
His nickname is "Slowhand," although he plays very fast. His manager started calling him that while he was touring with The Yardbirds in 1964. Clapton was famous for breaking strings because of his ridiculous bends. When he would go backstage to change strings the audience would start a slow hand clap until he returned.
He lived in a house in Miami on 461 Ocean Boulevard. The address became the name of one of his albums. The Bee Gees later lived in that house.
In 1991 his 4-year-old son Conor died when he fell out of a window at his mother's house in New York. His song "
Tears In Heaven" is about Conor.
Clapton is the only person inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times. He is in as a solo artist and as a member of Cream and The Yardbirds.
Clapton did a lot of drugs and went into a depression in the early '70s. He was deeply affected by the deaths of Duane Allman, Jimi Hendrix, and the grandfather who raised him. According to his autobiography Clapton, his heroin addition at one point was costing him about $16,000 a week, and when he finally kicked that habit he turned to cocaine and alcohol.
During his time with The Bluesbreakers and Cream, graffiti showed up around England saying: "Clapton Is God." This added to his legend.
In 1979, he married Pattie Harrison. She was previously married to George Harrison, who remained good friends with Clapton. Clapton declared his love for her on the Derek and the Dominos album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs in 1970, while she was still married to Harrison. Eric and Pattie divorced in 1988.
In 1998, he opened a drug and alcohol rehab center in Antigua called Crossroads. Clapton always loved the island, and thought its serenity and isolation were a perfect place for a treatment program.
He dated Sheryl Crow for about six months and was rumored to be inspiration for her song "
My Favorite Mistake," but Crow said that the song is not about him, as she doesn't feel that relationship was a mistake.
Clapton has always had a very laid-back style when performing live. He did not want to look foolish jumping around the stage when he got older.
In 1962, he went to Kingston Art College and studied stained-glass design. This is where he taught himself to play guitar.
Along with Robert Cray, Clapton played with Stevie Ray Vaughan the night he died. Eric's tour manager, Peter Jackson, had traded flights with Vaughan because Stevie was in a big hurry to get back to their hotel. Peter offered his seat to Stevie and took the next helicopter out. It was originally reported that Peter was killed because he was scheduled for that flight.
For his North America 1995 Tour, Eric Clapton requested a special room be set up for his table football.
Clapton idolized his uncle Adrian. The album Reptile is a sort of tribute to Adrian, who died in spring 2000.
Some of Clapton's most popular songs came from two little-known but very talented singer-songwriters. J.J. Cale, from Oklahoma, wrote "
After Midnight" and "
Cocaine"; Jerry Williams, from Texas, wrote "
Pretending" and "
No Alibis."
Harvard University named a
planet they discovered after him. It's a minor planet, but still...
The planet is called "(4305) Clapton," with the number representing the distance from the sun at perihelion. The name became official when it was published in
Minor Planet Circular in 1990 with the explanation, "He is the most remarkable bluesman ever to come out of England and his rock career has spanned more than 25 years."
His favorite guitar is a 1956 Stratocaster, "Blackie," that he made from three other guitars. Clapton purchased six Stratocasters from a Nashville shop in 1970, giving three to fellow musicians and combining the others into a unique instrument.
He convinced Jimmy Vaughn to continue his musical career after his brother Stevie Ray Vaughn died.
Clapton married graphic designer Melia McEnery at a secret ceremony on New Year's Day, 2002. At the christening for their 6-month-old daughter, they had the minister marry them.
Clapton has cited Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley as influences.
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Suggestion credit:
Jonathan - Nahant, MA
Clapton was one of the first major musicians to use the wah-wah pedal, especially on the album
Disraeli Gears. He inspired Jimi Hendrix to incorporate the wah-wah pedal into his music. Hendrix was a huge Cream fan.
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Suggestion credit:
Jason - St. Louis, MO
He has ties to both of the Allman brothers. He wrote the score to the film
Rush (1991), which featured Gregg Allman; with the help of Gregg's brother Duane, Clapton recorded the album
Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970).
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Suggestion credit:
James - Tracy, CA
Eric Clapton's love for fly fishing dates back to learning to fish on Surrey's Wey River as a school kid. He later utilized it as a healthy pastime after getting sober in the 1980s. When touring during this period, Clapton would request that his manager book only hotels that were near fishing facilities.
At a show in Birmingham, England in 1976, Clapton reached one of his lowest moments in what he described as a "semiracial thing." His nationalist political views turned to vitriol when he ranted on stage about arabs, Jamaicans, and other "foreigners" that "don't belong here." He blamed it on the alcohol. "Being the drunk that I was, I just went on a rant," he said in 2017.
Clapton had a bad reaction to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, writing that after his second shot, "My hands and feet were either frozen, numb, or burning and pretty much useless for two weeks." He opposed lockdown measures in the UK and refused to play any concerts that require vaccination for entry.
Eric Clapton has played alongside some of the most revered guitarists in history, yet when asked who he considers the greatest, he doesn't name Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, or Duane Allman. Instead, he repeatedly points to Albert Lee, a British country-rock virtuoso with lightning-fast fingers and a humble demeanor. Clapton is so in awe of Lee's precision and speed that, when they play together, he often steps back - almost as if he's watching as a fan rather than a fellow musician. In fact, Clapton has admitted that keeping up with Lee during jam sessions can be a challenge, a rare confession from a man once heralded as "God" in the world of guitar.
