Eric Patrick Clapton was born on 1945 and is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
162 Facts About Eric Clapton
2.
Eric Clapton is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music.
3.
Eric Clapton was named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
4.
On leaving Mayall in 1966, after one album, he formed the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce, in which Eric Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop".
5.
Eric Clapton continued to record a number of successful solo albums and songs over the next several decades, including a 1974 cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff", the country-infused Slowhand album and the pop rock of 1986's August.
6.
Eric Clapton has received 18 Grammy Awards as well as the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
7.
Eric Clapton has received four Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award.
8.
Eric Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and of Cream.
9.
In 1998, Eric Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for those recovering from substance abuse.
10.
Eric Clapton was born on 30 March 1945 in Ripley, Surrey, England, to 16-year-old Patricia Molly Eric Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer, a 25-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec.
11.
Eric Clapton grew up believing that his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband, Jack Clapp, Patricia's stepfather, were his parents, and that his mother was actually his older sister.
12.
Eric Clapton received an acoustic Hoyer guitar, made in Germany, for his thirteenth birthday, but the inexpensive steel-stringed instrument was difficult to play and he briefly lost interest.
13.
Eric Clapton was influenced by blues music from an early age, and practised long hours to learn the chords of blues music by playing along to the records.
14.
Eric Clapton preserved his practice sessions using his portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder, listening to them over and over until satisfied.
15.
In 1961, after leaving Hollyfield School in Surbiton, Eric Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but was expelled at the end of the academic year because his focus had remained on music rather than art.
16.
Eric Clapton's guitar playing was sufficiently advanced that, by the age of 16, he was getting noticed.
17.
In 1962, Eric Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast Dave Brock in pubs around Surrey.
18.
Eric Clapton stayed with this band from January until August 1963.
19.
In October 1963, Eric Clapton joined the Yardbirds, a rhythm and blues band, and stayed with them until March 1965.
20.
King, Eric Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene.
21.
Yardbirds' rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, recalled that whenever Eric Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it.
22.
In December 1964, Eric Clapton made his first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with the Yardbirds.
23.
Since then, Eric Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is like "playing in my front room".
24.
In part because of its success, the Yardbirds elected to move toward a pop-orientated sound, much to the annoyance of Eric Clapton, who was devoted to the blues and not commercial success.
25.
Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds on the day that "For Your Love" went public, a move that left the band without its lead guitarist and most accomplished member.
26.
Eric Clapton suggested fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement, but Page declined out of loyalty to Eric Clapton, putting Jeff Beck forward.
27.
Beck and Page played together in the Yardbirds for a while, but Beck, Page, and Eric Clapton were never in the group together.
28.
The album itself is often called The Beano Album by fans because of its cover photograph showing Eric Clapton reading the British children's comic The Beano.
29.
Eric Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 and was invited by drummer Ginger Baker to play in his newly formed band Cream, one of the earliest supergroups, with Jack Bruce on bass.
30.
Eric Clapton first visited the United States while touring with Cream.
31.
Eric Clapton used the guitar for most of Cream's recordings after Fresh Cream, particularly on Disraeli Gears, until the band broke up in 1968.
32.
Disraeli Gears contained Eric Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing, and Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming.
33.
Eric Clapton went largely uncredited for his contributions to Harrison's albums due to contractual restraints, and Harrison was credited as "L'Angelo Misterioso" for his contributions to the song "Badge" on Goodbye.
34.
Eric Clapton subsequently toured as a sideman for an act that had opened for Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends.
35.
Eric Clapton performed as a member of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969, a recording from which was released as the album Live Peace in Toronto 1969.
36.
Delaney Bramlett co-wrote six of the songs with Eric Clapton, producing the LP, and Bonnie Bramlett co-wrote "Let It Rain".
37.
Eric Clapton worked with much of Delaney and Bonnie's band to record George Harrison's All Things Must Pass in spring 1970.
38.
Del and Eric Clapton were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos".
39.
On 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Eric Clapton had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift.
40.
Eric Clapton wrote later in his autobiography that he and Allman were inseparable during the Layla sessions in Florida; he talked about Allman as the "musical brother I'd never had but wished I did".
41.
Eric Clapton nursed a heroin addiction, which resulted in a lengthy career hiatus interrupted only by performing at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh benefit shows in New York in August 1971; there, he passed out on stage, was revived, and managed to finish his performance.
42.
Eric Clapton returned the favour by playing "The Preacher" in Ken Russell's film version of the Who's Tommy in 1975.
43.
In 1974, Eric Clapton started living with Boyd and was no longer using heroin.
44.
In 1981, Eric Clapton was invited by producer Martin Lewis to appear at the Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in London.
45.
Many factors had influenced Eric Clapton's comeback, including his "deepening commitment to Christianity", to which he had converted prior to his heroin addiction.
46.
Eric Clapton would go back to the Hazelden Treatment Center in November 1987.
47.
Eric Clapton chose the name of the album "because that's all I saw myself having left" after his first rehabilitation from alcoholism.
48.
Since then Waters and Eric Clapton have had a close relationship.
49.
Eric Clapton later remade "After Midnight" as a single and a promotional track for the Michelob beer brand, which had used earlier songs by Collins and Steve Winwood.
50.
Eric Clapton won a British Academy Television Award for his collaboration with Michael Kamen on the score for the 1985 BBC television thriller series Edge of Darkness.
51.
At the 1987 Brit Awards in London, Eric Clapton was awarded the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
52.
Eric Clapton played at the cricket club's 25th anniversary celebrations in 2011, which were held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.
53.
In 1989, Eric Clapton released Journeyman, an album that covered a wide range of styles, including blues, jazz, soul and pop.
54.
In 1991, Eric Clapton appeared on Richie Sambora's album, Stranger in This Town, in a song dedicated to him, called "Mr Bluesman".
55.
Eric Clapton contributed guitar and vocals to "Runaway Train", a duet with Elton John on the latter's The One album the following year.
56.
Eric Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which was co-written by Will Jennings.
57.
At the 35th Annual Grammy Awards, Eric Clapton received six Grammys for the single "Tears in Heaven" and his Unplugged album, for which Eric Clapton performed live in front of a small audience on 16 January 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, Berkshire, England.
58.
On 9 September 1992, Eric Clapton performed "Tears in Heaven" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, and won the award for Best Male Video.
59.
In 1992, Eric Clapton received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.
60.
In October 1992 Eric Clapton was among the dozens of artists performing at Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.
61.
On 12 September 1996 Eric Clapton played a party for Armani at New York City's Lexington Armory with Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East and Steve Gadd.
62.
That autumn, Eric Clapton released the album Pilgrim, the first record containing new material for almost a decade.
63.
In 1996, Eric Clapton had a relationship with singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow.
64.
At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards on 24 February 1999, Eric Clapton received his third Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for his song "My Father's Eyes".
65.
In October 1999, the compilation album, Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton, was released, which contained a new song, "Blue Eyes Blue", that appears in soundtrack for the film, Runaway Bride.
66.
An event marking the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in June 2002, Eric Clapton performed "Layla" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the Party at the Palace concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
67.
In 2004, Clapton released two albums of covers of songs by bluesman Robert Johnson, Me and Mr Johnson and Sessions for Robert J Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II worked on the album with Clapton and joined him on his 2004 tour.
68.
On 22 January 2005, Eric Clapton performed in the Tsunami Relief Concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
69.
On 2006, Eric Clapton made a guest appearance at the Bob Dylan concert in Columbus, Ohio, playing guitar on three songs in Jimmie Vaughan's opening act.
70.
The chemistry between Trucks and Eric Clapton convinced him to invite the Derek Trucks Band to open for Eric Clapton's set at his 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival.
71.
In 2007, Eric Clapton learned more about his father, a Canadian soldier who left the UK after the war.
72.
Eric Clapton learned that Clapton's father was Edward Walter Fryer, born 1920, in Montreal and died in Newmarket, Ontario.
73.
On 26 February 2008, it was reported that Eric Clapton had been invited to play a concert in North Korea by government officials.
74.
Eric Clapton agreed in principle and suggested it take place in 2009.
75.
Kristen Foster, a spokesperson for Eric Clapton, said that he regularly received offers to play abroad and that there had been no agreement for him to play in North Korea.
76.
In February 2008, Eric Clapton performed with his long-time friend Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden and guested on his recorded single, "Dirty City", on Winwood's album Nine Lives.
77.
Eric Clapton was one of the performers, with drummer Butch Trucks remarking that the performance was not the typical Allman Brothers experience, given the number and musical styles of the guests who were invited to perform.
78.
On 2009 Eric Clapton appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, playing "Further on Up the Road" with Joe Bonamassa.
79.
Eric Clapton was scheduled to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert in Madison Square Garden on 2009, but cancelled due to gallstone surgery.
80.
Van Morrison said in an interview that he and Eric Clapton were to do a "couple of songs", but that they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".
81.
Eric Clapton performed a two-night show with Jeff Beck at the O2 Arena in London on 2010.
82.
Eric Clapton performed a series of concerts in 11 cities throughout the United States from to 2010, including Roger Daltrey as opening act.
83.
Eric Clapton then began a short North American tour lasting from to, starting with his third Crossroads Guitar Festival on at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.
84.
Eric Clapton released a new studio album, Eric Clapton, on 2010 in the United Kingdom and 28 September 2010 in the United States.
85.
On 2010, Eric Clapton performed as guest on the Prince's Trust rock gala held at the Royal Albert Hall, supported by the house band for the evening, which included Jools Holland, Midge Ure and Mark King.
86.
On 24 June 2011, Clapton was in concert with Pino Daniele in Cava de' Tirreni stadium before performing a series of concerts in South America from 6 to 16 October 2011.
87.
Eric Clapton spent November and December 2011 touring Japan with Steve Winwood, playing 13 shows in various cities throughout the country.
88.
On 29 November 2012, Eric Clapton joined The Rolling Stones at London's O2 Arena during the band's second of five arena dates celebrating their 50th anniversary.
89.
Eric Clapton toured the US and Europe from 14 March to 19 June 2013 to celebrate 50 years as a professional musician.
90.
On 28 February 2013, Eric Clapton announced his intention to stop touring in 2015 due to hassles with travel.
91.
On 13 and 14 November 2013, Eric Clapton headlined the final two evenings of the "Baloise Session", an annual indoor music festival in Basel, Switzerland.
92.
On 30 April 2014, Eric Clapton announced the release of The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale as an homage to JJ Cale who died on 26 July 2013.
93.
On 21 June 2014, Eric Clapton abruptly walked off stage during a concert at the Glasgow Hydro.
94.
Eric Clapton performed two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York on 1 and 3 May 2015 followed by a 7-night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall from 14 to 23 May 2015 to celebrate his 70th birthday on 30 March.
95.
Eric Clapton has performed more times at Madison Square Garden than any other US venue, a total of 45 times.
96.
On 20 May 2016, Eric Clapton released his twenty-third studio album I Still Do.
97.
Eric Clapton returned to the road in September 2021, playing eight shows in the southern United States.
98.
In May 2022, Eric Clapton announced a run of seven US concerts in September with Jimmie Vaughan.
99.
Eric Clapton has said that blues musician Robert Johnson is his single most important influence.
100.
In 2004, Eric Clapton released Sessions for Robert Johnson, containing covers of Johnson's songs using electric and acoustic guitars.
101.
Eric Clapton was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson.
102.
Eric Clapton's music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice, really.
103.
The Chirping Crickets was the first album Eric Clapton ever bought; he later saw Holly on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
104.
Eric Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.
105.
Eric Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream.
106.
Eric Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.
107.
In 2011, The Guardian attributed the creation of the cult of the guitar hero to Eric Clapton, ranking it number seven on their list of the 50 key events in rock music history;.
108.
Eric Clapton had already been a member of the Yardbirds before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the clearing house for guitarists, in April 1965.
109.
Elias Leight of Rolling Stone writes that Eric Clapton "influenced recording techniques as well as guitar-playing technique".
110.
Indelibly linked to the Royal Albert Hall in London, a venue he has played at more than any other in his 50-year plus career, Eric Clapton was inducted into the Royal Albert Hall's Walk of Fame in 2018, making him one of the first eleven recipients of a star on the walk, thus joining Muhammad Ali, Winston Churchill, the Suffragettes, and Albert Einstein, among others who were viewed as "key players" in the building's history.
111.
Eric Clapton became exclusively a Gibson player for a period beginning in mid-1965, when he purchased a used sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitar from a guitar store in London.
112.
Eric Clapton commented on the slim profile of the neck, which would indicate it was a 1960 model.
113.
Eric Clapton continued to play Les Pauls exclusively with Cream until 1967, when he acquired his most famous guitar in this period, a 1964 Gibson SG, dubbed "the Fool".
114.
Eric Clapton used both the Les Paul and the SG to create his self-described "woman tone".
115.
Eric Clapton's "Fool" acquired its name from its distinctive psychedelic paint job, created by the visual art collective known as the Fool.
116.
In 1968, Eric Clapton bought a Gibson Firebird and started using the 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335 again.
117.
In July 1968 Eric Clapton gave George Harrison a 1957 'goldtop' Gibson Les Paul that been refinished with a red colour, nicknamed Lucy.
118.
Eric Clapton retained it until 2000, when he sold it at an auction for US$150,000.
119.
At the 1969 Blind Faith concert in Hyde Park, London Eric Clapton played a Fender Custom Telecaster, which was fitted with "Brownie"s neck.
120.
In late 1969 Eric Clapton made the switch to the Fender Stratocaster.
121.
In November 1970 Eric Clapton bought six Fender Stratocasters from the Sho-bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour with the Dominos.
122.
Eric Clapton gave one each to George Harrison, Steve Winwood, and Pete Townshend.
123.
Eric Clapton assembled the best components of the remaining three to create "Blackie", which was his favourite stage guitar until its retirement in 1985.
124.
On 2004, Eric Clapton sold "Blackie" at Christie's Auction House, New York, for US$959,500 to raise funds for his Crossroads Centre for drug and alcohol addictions.
125.
In 1979, Eric Clapton gave his signed Fender Lead II guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe in London to designate his favourite bar stool.
126.
Eric Clapton uses Ernie Ball Slinky and Super Slinky strings, gauge.
127.
Eric Clapton appeared in the movie version of Tommy, the first full-length rock opera, written by the Who.
128.
Eric Clapton appeared in Blues Brothers 2000 as one of the Louisiana Gator Boys.
129.
Eric Clapton has appeared in an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.
130.
In March 2007 Eric Clapton appeared in an advertisement for RealNetwork's Rhapsody online music service.
131.
In 2010, Eric Clapton started appearing as a spokesman for T-Mobile, advertising their MyTouch Fender cell phone.
132.
Eric Clapton appeared on the BBC's Top Gear in 2013, during Series 19 Episode 4 and was involved in testing the new Kia Cee'd.
133.
Eric Clapton was called upon to test the Cee'd's auxiliary input, which he tested by plugging in one of his guitars and playing several bars of his most famous hits.
134.
Eric Clapton was introduced by Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson as a "local guitarist".
135.
Eric Clapton wrote the film score for Zanuck's 1991 film Rush and the two remained friends.
136.
Eric Clapton married Pattie Boyd on 27 March 1979, in Tucson, Arizona, but their marriage was marred by his infidelities and domestic violence.
137.
In 1984, while recording Behind the Sun, Eric Clapton began a relationship with Yvonne Kelly, the manager of AIR Studios Montserrat.
138.
Eric Clapton was named Ruth Kelly Clapton, but her existence was kept from the public until the media realised she was his child in 1991.
139.
Eric Clapton had an affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo who gave birth to their son, Conor, on 21 August 1986.
140.
Eric Clapton quietly dated her for a year, and went public with the relationship in 1999.
141.
On 5 August 1976, Eric Clapton provoked an uproar when he spoke out against increasing immigration during a concert in Birmingham.
142.
Visibly intoxicated on stage, Eric Clapton voiced his support for the right-wing British politician Enoch Powell.
143.
Eric Clapton said that the UK was "inviting people in as cheap labour and then putting them in ghettos".
144.
Eric Clapton has played in concerts to raise funds for the organisation and publicly opposed the Labour Party's ban on fox hunting with the 2004 Hunting Act.
145.
In July 2021, Eric Clapton wrote that he would "not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present", in response to Boris Johnson requiring vaccination for concerts.
146.
Whether the symptoms he reported were actually vaccine-related has been called into question, given that Eric Clapton previously reported suffering the same symptoms as early as 2013 due to nerve damage.
147.
Eric Clapton tested positive for COVID-19 in May 2022 shortly after performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London, causing him to cancel some concerts in his tour schedule.
148.
Since the 1970s, Eric Clapton has considered himself a "car enthusiast" and has often stated his passion for the Ferrari brand.
149.
Eric Clapton currently owns or has owned a range of Ferraris, and when asked about his Ferrari collection in 1989, he said he liked the touring cars the company produces for road use and commented "if I had more space and if I had been wise I would have a huge collection by now and I would be a multi-multi-millionaire".
150.
In July 2013 Eric Clapton displayed it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England in the Michelin Supercar Run.
151.
In 2014, Eric Clapton explained that Ferrari is still his favourite car brand.
152.
In 1993, Eric Clapton was appointed a director of Clouds House, a UK treatment centre for drug and alcohol dependence, and served on their board until 1997.
153.
Eric Clapton served on the board of directors for The Chemical Dependency Centre from 1994 until 1999.
154.
Eric Clapton has organised the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 1999,2004,2007,2010,2013 and 2019 to raise funds for this centre.
155.
Eric Clapton has performed at the Secret Policeman's Ball, a benefit show co-founded by Monty Python member John Cleese on behalf of Amnesty International.
156.
Eric Clapton made his first appearance at the 1981 show held in London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and he subsequently became an activist.
157.
Eric Clapton has collaborated with The Prince's Trust, the leading UK youth charity, which provides training, personal development, business start up support, mentoring, and advice.
158.
Eric Clapton has performed at the charity's rock concert numerous times since the 1980s, most recently in 2010.
159.
Eric Clapton is a fan of English football club West Bromwich Albion.
160.
Eric Clapton won Album of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance for Unplugged and Best Rock Song for "Layla".
161.
Eric Clapton was earlier inducted as a member of the bands Cream and the Yardbirds.
162.
Eric Clapton's music has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows as far back as 1973's Mean Streets, which included the Derek and the Dominos song "I Looked Away" and a performance of "Steppin' Out" by Cream.