ERIC CLAPTON Born in England, this musician is ranked among the greatest rock and roll guitarists of all time. Eric Clapton grew up in a very musical household. Already one of the most respected guitarists on the West End pub circuit, in 1963 Clapton received an invitation to join a band called TheYardbirds. Later in 1965, Clapton joined the blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Clapton soon left the Bluesbreakers as well; a few months later, he teamed up with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker to form the rock trio Cream. Cream achieved international superstar status. After the breakup of Cream, Clapton formed yet another band, Blind Faith, but the group broke up after only one album and a disastrous American tour. Then, in 1970, he formed Derek and the Dominos, and went on to compose and record one of the seminal albums of rock history, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. A concept album about unrequited love, Clapton wrote Layla to express his desperate affection for Pattie Boyd, the wife of the Beatles' George Harrison. Despite his great musical productivity during these years, Clapton's personal life remained in woeful disarray. In 1979, five years after her divorce from his friend George Harrison, Pattie Boyd (of "Layla" fame) finally did marry Eric Clapton. However, by this time Clapton had simply replaced his heroin addiction with alcoholism, and his drinking placed a constant strain on their relationship. He was an unfaithful husband and conceived two children with other women during their marriage. In 1991, Eric Clapton's son Conor died when he fell out of the window of his mother's apartment. The tragedy took a heavy toll on Eric Clapton and also inspired one of his most beautiful and heartfelt songs, "Tears in Heaven." |
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