Eric Clapton

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Eric Patrick Clapton (born on March 30, 1945, in The Green, Ripley, Surrey, England), was the illegitimate son of a 16-year-old, Patricia Clapton, and Edward Fryer, a Canadian soldier stationed in England.

His father, who already had a wife, returned to Canada after World War II and his mother, unable to bear the shame of bringing up an illegitmate child (a child of unmarried parents) in postwar Britain, moved to Germany (where she married another Canadian soldier), leaving Eric behind with his grandparents Jack and Rose Clapp (Clapton by her first marriage). Eric was raised believing his mother was his sister, until he was nine years old and his grandmother finally revealed the truth.

A polite and well-behaved boy, the young Eric was an above-average student with a strong interest in art. He was inspired to learn to play the guitar after watching Jerry Lee Lewis on television. His obsession with playing Blues music ultimately resulted in his being expelled from Kingston College of Art, for playing the guitar in class.

Working as a labourer to pay his way, Eric spent most of his free time playing his electric guitar. Eventually he joined a local band, The Roosters, moving on to Casey Jones And The Engineers with fellow band member Tom McGuiness. In 1963, though, Eric was sought out by The Yardbirds and from there his reputation began to blossom.

It was in the Yardbirds that Eric earned his nickname of 'Slowhand', because his forceful string-bending often resulted in broken guitar strings, which he would replace onstage while the crowd engaged in a slow hand-clapping.

After about 18 months with the Yardbirds, musical differences led Eric to move on to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers where his talent blossomed even further. It was at this stage in his career that Eric's fans awarding him his second, and ultimate, nickname - "God"!

In mid-1966 he parted company with the Bluesbreakers, whose lineup had grown to include Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The band he formed with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker would become Eric's best-known collaboration - Cream.

Cream became the "pre-eminent rock trio of the Sixties", however the pre-existing tension between Baker and Bruce, coupled with all three's growing drug habits, lead to problems that eventually caused the band's breakup in 1969.

Also during 1969, Clapton worked with Beatle John Lennon and his new wife Yoko Ono, who called themselves the Plastic Ono Band. He performed with them onstage in Toronto that September, and played guitar on "Cold Turkey", Lennon's song about heroin addiction. The Beatles were getting ready to break up, and Lennon thought about asking Clapton to permanently join his and Ono's new band, but decided not to keep a regular band lineup.

Clapton, together with Baker, joined forces with Rick Grech and Steve Winwood to form rock's first ever supergroup, Blind Faith. Blind Faith lasted only a few months, and released one album. After Blind Faith broke up, Clapton formed another band, called Derek and the Dominoes, whose biggest hit was "Layla".

The inspiration for "Layla" was fashion model Pattie Boyd, who was married to Clapton's friend, fellow musician (and former Beatle) George Harrison. Clapton was in love with Boyd, and frustrated because he couldn't be with her. In time, Boyd and Harrison grew apart, and Clapton and Boyd got together, marrying in 1977. All three remained friends, and Clapton and Harrison called themselves "husbands-in-law". Clapton and Boyd were divorced in 1989, after they also grew apart.

Along with his drug problems, Clapton had trouble with alcohol, sometimes drinking a whole bottle or more of liquor in a day. In the 1990s, he was finally able to stop drinking alcohol. He also found out more about his father, who had died, and about a half-brother (by his mother) he had never met, who was mentally challenged and lived in a hospital.

Clapton is still making music and performing, sometimes with other musicians such as B.B. King.