Biographie

On March 10, 1991, 4-year-old Conor Clapton died after falling out a window of his mother's 53rd-floor apartment. Eric Clapton's Grammy-winning song "Tears in Heaven" was dedicated to the memory of his son.

George Harrison was married to model Pattie Boyd from 1966 to 1977. Clapton fell in love with Boyd, and wrote "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight" about her. She left Harrison for Clapton, and they were married from 1979 to 1989. Harrison and Clapton referred to each other as "husbands-in-law".

He is the only artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: in 1992 as a member of The Yardbirds, in 1993 as a member of Cream, and in 2000 as a solo performer.

Despite selling hundreds of millions of records as a solo artist and as a member of Genesis, Phil Collins has said that playing drums for Clapton was the highlight of his whole career.

Before becoming a musician, he designed stained glass windows.

Given the choice between accomplishing something and just lying around, I'd rather lie around. No contest.

I am, and always will be, a blues guitarist.

[about "Layla"] To have ownership of something that powerful is something I'll never be able to get used to. It still knocks me out when I play it.

My original interests and intentions in guitar playing were primarily created on quality of tone, for instance, the way the instrument could be made to echo or simulate the human voice. At the time when I was still thrashing around on the acoustic guitar trying to sound like Leadbelly or Jesse Fuller, there was someone who had already achieved this particular goal. That was Hank Marvin [Hank B. Marvin] of The Shadows. He had found, and settled on, a clean, pure sound which disallowed any kind of ham-fisted playing. Only the lightest touch was permitted. The result was a marvelous mixture of clear, sweet melody over a strong rock beat (and what a great drum sound). On top of all this, he looked like Buddy Holly and played a real Stratocaster!

When all the original blues guys are gone, you start to realize that someone has to tend to the tradition. I recognize that I have some responsibility to keep the music alive, and it's a pretty honorable position to be in.