Eric Clapton Biography

On this Eric Clapton biography page you'll find a bit of background on this extrodanary entertainer and performer who has had his share of success and tradegy. There are also some links to a few Eric Clapton song lyrics and acousrtic demo tutorials near the bottom of the page.

Eric Clapton is considered by many to be the best guitarist of all time. Inspite of this, he never started playing in a band until he was 17.

He started out in a group called the Yardbirds and then left a few years later just as their first hit, "For Your Love", began climbing the charts. He passed thru a few other bands before starting the group "Cream" in 1966.


This group also split in 1968 but had a few reunion shows in 1993 and again in 2005.

Eric Clapton was a good friend of George Harrisons and played backup on many of his recordings. He also was very attracted to Harrisons wife and even wrote a song about her ... Layla! Harrison and Patti Boyd split and she did eventually marry Clapton in 1979.

The song Wonderful Tonight was also written by Clapton for Boyd in 1976 while he was waiting for his good friend Paul McCartney.

He had alcohol and drug issues as well as some trouble being faithful, so his marriage to Boyd ended in 1989.

The group Derek and the Dominos was also formed and included Clapton and Duane Allmand. This group also ended in the early 70's and by 1974 Clapton had beaten his heroine addiction and was already into his solo career.

Clapton had fathered a daughter by Yvonne Kelly while he was still married to Boyd. He fathered another child Conor in 1986 by an Italian Actress. After Conor, age 4, fell 53 stories to his death in 1990, it was only then that Boyd found out Clapton had fathered an earlier daughter, Ruth.

At age 54 Eric clapton re-married a 24 year old from L.A. back in 2002 and now has three children by her.

In 2010 Claption was active with touring in both North America and in Europe, hooking up with the likes of Jeff Beck and Steve Winwood. as well as releasing a new album entitled simply "Clapton".



His biggest musical influence over his entire career has been blues great Robert Johnson. Clapton puts him high on a pedistal as one of the most gifted musicians ever. And of course he has collaborated on numerous projects throughout his musical career with the likes of Zappa, George Harrison, Ringo and Lennon,B.B. King, Santana and others, including John Mayer in 2006.

And being a great guitar player is bound to influence others who look up to you. The magic of Claptons guitar skills have influenced some very notable players including Brad Paisley, Richie Sambora, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix ... just to name a few.



Clapton has had many different guitars over the years, but here are a few fun stats on what some of them were worth after being in the hands of the master guitarist.

• 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335 - sold in 2004 for $847,500
• 1964 Gibson SG - sold in 2000 for $150,000
• "Blackie", build from 3 Fender Stratocasters - sold in 2004 for $959,500
• 1939 000-42 Martin (he played this on the Unplugged album) - sold for $791,500
• A Lowden acoustic in 2004 - sold for $41,825.

And of course Eric Clapton has one award that no other artist has .. and that is being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame three times. Once for himself, once for being a member of The Yardbyrds and once for being a member of Cream

Eric Clapton Official Website

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