Look up its, it's, or ITS in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

its, it's or ITS can mean:

• it's, a contraction of it is or it has
• its, the possessive adjective and possessive pronoun form of the personal pronoun it

Computing[link]

• Incompatible Timesharing System, a computer operating system
• Intelligent tutoring system, an artificial intelligence system used for tutoring
• Internationalization Tag Set, a W3C recommendation for internationalizing XML
• Issue tracking system, computer software that manages product issues

Organizations[link]

• Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty, a former political grouping in the European Parliament
• Islamic Thinkers Society
• International Thespian Society, an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students
• International Tracing Service
• Indian Telecommunication Service, an organised civil service of Government of India
• Irish Texts Society, promoting the study of literature

Education[link]

• Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, often abbreviated to ITS Leeds
• Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland
• Tenth of November Institute of Technology (Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember), a public university in Surabaya, Indonesia
• Institute of Technological Studies, in Sri Lanka
• Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo, in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

Science and engineering[link]

• Integrated Truss Structure, a component of the International Space Station
• Intelligent transportation system, add information technology to the transportation infrastructure
• Internal transcribed spacer, a section of DNA located within a set of ribosomal genes
• International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90), a temperature calibration standard for measurements in units of kelvins and degrees Celsius
• Intelligent tutoring system, a computer system which automatically provides customized instruction in some topic, usually related to the field of AI

Business[link]

• International Transportation Service (ITS), an American container terminal company

Other[link]

• The "It's" man, a man with torn clothes and unkempt beard who appeared at the beginning of episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Improv Tribal Style Belly Dance, a sub-genre of Tribal Style Belly Dance

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Bonnie Tyler
Tyler live at La Cigale in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Gaynor Hopkins
Also known as	Sherene Davis
Born	(1951-06-08) 8 June 1951 (age 61) Skewen, Wales
Genres	Rock, country rock, wagnerian rock, progressive rock, rock and roll, pop
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1975–present
Labels	RCA, Chrysalis, CBS Records, Columbia, Hansa, Atlantic, East West Records, CMC Records, Sony, Stick Music
Website	Official Site

Bonnie Tyler (born Gaynor Hopkins^[1] on 8 June 1951) is a Welsh singer. She is most notable for having several hits in the 1970s and 80s, including "Lost in France", "It's a Heartache", "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Holding Out For A Hero" as well as her European 2004 hit "Si demain... (Turn Around)".

With a distinctively husky voice due to damaged vocal cords, Tyler is a three-time Grammy Award nominee and three-time Brit Award nominee,^[2][3] and three-time Goldene Europa award winner. Tyler was also the first Welsh female artist to reach the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 music charts.

Early life[link]

Tyler was born in Skewen, Neath, Wales to a family that included three sisters and two brothers. Her father, Glyn Hopkins, worked in a coal mine and her mother, Elsie Hopkins, (an opera lover) shared her love for music with her children, and was known to have been part of the local church choir. Tyler grew up listening to Motown music and female artists like Janis Joplin and Tina Turner.^[4] She concluded her education in the sixties and began working in the local grocery shop, then as a supermarket cashier.

In 1970, aged 19, she entered a talent contest, singing the Mary Hopkin hit "Those Were the Days", and finished in second place, winning £1. She then was chosen to sing in a band with front man Bobby Wayne, known as Bobby Wayne & The Dixies. Two years later, she formed her own band called Imagination (not related to the 1980s British dance band of the same name) and performed with them in pubs and clubs all over southern Wales. It was then that she decided to adopt the stage name of "Sherene Davis",^[5] taking the names from her niece's forename and favourite aunt's surname.^[6] Despite the two name changes, her family and friends still know her as Gaynor.^[7]

On July 4, 1973, she married Robert Sullivan, a real estate agent, Swansea night club manager and Olympic judoka.^[8] In 1975, she was discovered by Roger Bell who arranged a recording contract for her with RCA Records. Before signing, she was asked to choose a different stage name and settled on Bonnie Tyler.^[9]

Career[link]

The 1970s[link]

In 1976, Tyler was spotted in "The Townsman Club" in Swansea by the songwriting and producing team of Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, who became her managers, songwriters and producers.^[10]

Tyler first began by recording a track entitled "My! My! Honeycomb", which did not receive any chart success, but did gain local airplay in Swansea.^[11] The track was later released on the 2002 compilation, "Total Eclipse Anthology" and on a re-release of "The World Starts Tonight" in 2009, along with the rare track, "Baby I Remember You".^[12]

Following the Top 10 success of her 1976 song "Lost in France", Tyler released her first album in 1977 entitled The World Starts Tonight. A further single from the album, "More Than a Lover", made the UK Top 30,^[13] and the follow-up single, "Heaven", reached the Top 30 in Germany.^[14]

In 1977, Tyler was diagnosed with nodules on her vocal cords that were so severe that she needed to undergo surgery to remove them. After the surgery, she was ordered not to speak for six weeks to aid the healing process, but she accidentally screamed out in frustration one day. This caused her voice to take on a raspy quality. At first she believed that her singing career was ruined;^[15] but to her surprise her next single, "It's a Heartache," made her an international star. The song reached #4 in the UK, #3 in the US, #2 in Germany, and topped the charts in several countries (including France and Australia).^[16] The song was originally released by Ronnie Spector and Juice Newton separately, but Tyler's version was the most recognised and credited recording of the song. Tyler's second album, Natural Force, was also retitled It's a Heartache for the U.S. market and certified Gold there. Tyler performed in the Long Miles Country Music Festival prior to the release of Natural Force alongside musicians such as Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. In 1978, Tyler was given a Bravo Otto award in Germany for her success in Europe.

Though further global success was elusive during this era, Tyler did have some regional hits: "Here Am I" made the German Top 20 in spring of 1978; "My Guns Are Loaded" peaked at number 3 in France in 1979; and she scored a minor UK Top 40 hit with "Married Men" in summer 1979 (the theme to the film The World Is Full of Married Men). Tyler released the albums Diamond Cut in 1979 and Goodbye to the Island in 1981. The track "Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean" was the Grand Prix winner of the 1979 Yamaha World Song Festival held in Tokyo.^[17]

The 1980s[link]

Tyler released four albums for RCA Records from 1977 to 1981, but she became increasingly dissatisfied with Scott and Wolfe's management as they were trying to market her as a pop-country music artist.^[10] When her contract with RCA expired, she signed with David Aspden Management and sought help from songwriter Jim Steinman, most familiar to audiences as Meat Loaf's primary collaborator, to give her music the rock style she wanted. She signed with Columbia Records in 1982.

Her next album, Faster Than the Speed of Night, was released in Spring 1983 and included the power-ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which was written by Steinman. The song was a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in the UK, Ireland, France, Australia, and in the United States where it remained at the top for four weeks. Her presence in the US chart was at a time when almost one third of the Billboard Hot 100 was filled by songs from UK based acts - a situation not seen since the 1960s British Invasion and Beatlemania.^[18] Faster Than the Speed of Night entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1, and also became a Top Five bestseller in the US and Australia. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" also brought Tyler a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Also in 1983, Tyler was offered to sing the title song of the James Bond film, Never Say Never Again. Tyler disliked the song and turned down the offer,^[19] and so the song was given to American singer Lani Hall instead. In 1984, Tyler performed "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at the Grammy Awards, and received another Grammy nomination as Best Rock Female Vocalist for "Here She Comes",^[20] a song that was part of the soundtrack for the 1984 restoration of the film Metropolis. She also released the singles "A Rockin' Good Way", a duet with fellow Welsh artist Shakin' Stevens, which made #5 in the UK, and "Holding Out for a Hero", for the Footloose soundtrack, which made the U.S. Top 40 and later peaked at number 2 in UK in the summer of 1985. "Holding Out For A Hero" (written by Steinman and Dean Pitchford) was also used as the main theme for the 1984 US television series Cover Up, though the version heard on the TV series was not Tyler's original but performed by E.G. Daily.^[21]

The following albums, Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire (1986) and Hide Your Heart (1988), achieved some success in France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, South Africa, Australia, but were not successful in the UK or the US. One of the single releases, "If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man)", became another Top 10 hit in France in 1986 and was certified Silver. In 1987, Tyler recorded a bilingual track with the Brazilian singer Fábio Junior entitled "Sem Limites Pra Sonhar" or "Reaching for the Infinite Heart" in English.^[22] In the same year, she sang the title song for Mike Oldfield's album Islands. Tyler also sang backing vocals with Cher for the song "Perfection" on Cher's self-titled 1987 album, and "Emotional Fire" on Cher's 1989 album Heart Of Stone.

In 1988, Tyler performed at the Reading Festival, accompanying performers such as Meat Loaf and Jefferson Starship. Tyler was victim to violent abuse from an aggressive crowd hurling bottles at her on stage after the organiser's failed attempt to introduce pop music to the annual event. Tyler was credited for carrying on and completing her set despite the audience's treatment.^[23] She even managed to get the audience to join in with "It's A Heartache" at the end of her set performance.^[24]

The 1990s[link]

Throughout the 1990s, Tyler's success was limited to continental Europe. In the early 1990s, she switched to the German label Hansa and found a new producer in Dieter Bohlen. Her first album for the label was Bitterblue, released in late 1991, which saw her leaving the rock genre of the 1980s and establishing a more soft-pop sound. The album went quadruple-platinum in Norway, platinum in Austria, and gold in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Following the success of this album, two volumes of compilation albums were released entitled 'The Very Best Of Bonnie Tyler'. The first disc sold over 600,000 copies.^[25]

Tyler followed this up with the albums Angel Heart (1992) and Silhouette in Red in 1993. In light of her success in Germany, Tyler won Best International Female Vocalist at the RSH Gold Award, the "Goldene Europa" Award and the ECHO Award in 1994.

In April 1992, Tyler participated in a Greek ensemble CD with Sofia Arvaniti. The track was released on Arvaniti's 'Parafora' album on the EMI label, which was composed by Greek musician Michalis Rakintzis. It was named "The Desert Is In Your Heart", or "Petheno Stin Erimia" in Greek, and was a bilingual track (Greek and English). An instrumental version of the song was also released on Arvaniti's album.^[26] The album reached Gold.

In 1993, the first volume of Tyler's compilation The Very Best of Bonnie Tyler was released. It received a strong backing of advertising support. The featured tracks were selections from the 1970s to 1991, in chronological order and included a biography of Tyler's career. Over 600,000 copies were sold in Germany, dominating the charts over artists such as Madonna, Cher and Tina Turner.^[27] Later, in 1994, Columbia Records released Heaven & Hell, a Bonnie Tyler and Meat Loaf compilation album which featured tracks from both artists. The compilation became a Gold record in the UK.

After her three albums with producer Dieter Bohlen, Tyler wanted to have a more international sound on her next record. She switched labels to Warner Music in 1995 and recorded Free Spirit, an album on which she worked again with Jim Steinman as well as other prolific producers such as David Foster and Humberto Gatica. However, the album was only a minor success in continental Europe, though the single "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" (previously a hit for Air Supply in 1983) narrowly missed the UK Top 40. The single featured Tyler's mother's operatic vocals on the intro to the song. The album was re-released in 1996, now including the track "Limelight" which was used as the official song of the German Olympic Team.^[28] Tyler continued to record, releasing the folk influenced All in One Voice in 1999, though this was even less successful. Also in 1999, Tyler was part of an ensemble vocal unit for Rick Wakeman's Return to the Centre of the Earth CD.^[29] Tyler also recorded the track "Tyre Tracks And Broken Hearts" on the Jim Steinman and Andrew Lloyd Webber composed album Whistle Down The Wind.

The 2000s[link]

In 2003, Tyler was approached by her manager,David Aspen, to record an album that would consist of cover versions of Tyler's choice.David Aspden became the producer of the album. Tyler picked out 13 of her favourite songs, some of which are by U2, Richard Marx, Phil Collins and The Beatles. The tracks were recorded by City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, but Tyler requested for her band to feature on the tracks also.

Also in 2003, French vocalist Kareen Antonn sent Tyler a demo recording of Antonn singing a French arrangement of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", entitled "Si demain... (Turn Around)", requesting for a duet with her. Tyler, completely unaware of whether Antonn was famous or not, accepted immediately and began recording the track soon after, despite the discomfort of not knowing whether the song was suitable for a duet. Released in December 2003, it went to number 1 in France, holding that chart position for ten weeks, and 12 weeks in total, as well as Belgium and Poland, selling a total of two million copies. The follow-up, "Si tout s'arrête (It's A Heartache)", another French language remake with Antonn, also made the French Top 20. Both tracks were included on Tyler's 2004 album, "Simply Believe". Also on this album, Tyler worked with Stuart Emerson, who wrote several songs on Tyler's Free Spirit album in 1995, and who also worked with Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf in the 1980s. Emerson wrote and produced six tracks on this album, two of which were re-recordings from her 1995 album.

By 2005, Tyler had already been working on her sixteenth studio album, Wings. The sixteen-track album included 12 new tracks, two French re-recordings and two re-recordings of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "It's a Heartache". Tyler co-wrote most of the tracks, and was given two new tracks from Stuart Emerson, one of which was recorded as a duet between Tyler and her friend Lorraine Crosby. The track was "I'll Stand By You" and was based on the theme of friendship. Tyler's two singles from the album were "Louise" and "Celebrate", both of which received no chart success and nor did the album. In 2006, the album was re-released in the UK with 14 tracks, and called Celebrate. Again, this received little chart success. For Tyler's birthday in 2005, Tyler performed several tracks from her new album at La Cigale in Paris and Zaragoza in Spain. Extracts from the concerts were released on CD (Bonnie Tyler Live) and DVD (Bonnie on Tour) in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

In 2006, French record label Stick Music released Tyler's first live album, Bonnie Tyler Live, which featured songs from her 2005 album Wings as well as a handful of her greatest hits. In September 2006, Tyler made her first appearance on U.S. television in years, as she sang a duet of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with actress Lucy Lawless on the American show Celebrity Duets.

In 2007, a new Greatest Hits collection, From the Heart: Greatest Hits, was released. The compilation reached #2 in the Irish album charts and #31 in the UK. Also in 2007, Tyler featured on a charity album called "Over the Rainbow". The event was filmed and shown on British TV series Challenge Anneka. Anneka Rice was set the challenge to put together a thirteen-track compilation album made up of songs from musicals in five days and organise a promotional concert for the release of the CD. The proceeds went to the Chase Trust disabled children's charity. Tyler selected "I Don’t Know How to Love Him" from one of her favourite musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar.^[30] In March 2007, Tyler appeared in the 20th season of the British TV show, "Never Mind The Buzzcocks".

In 2009, it was announced by Mal Pope that he had recruited Tyler to perform the title track to his self-written musical, Cappuccino Girls, which would tour in Wales in the following months. She mimed the title song on the closing night in the theater to celebrate its conclusion.^[31] Tyler made a guest appearance in Hollyoaks Later (the late night edition of the British Channel 4 teen soap Hollyoaks) in which she sang her hit "Holding Out For a Hero" with one of the characters. She also recorded a new version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with the Welsh male voice choir Only Men Aloud! for their second album Band of Brothers which was released in October 2009.

Sony re-released Tyler's first two albums, "The World Starts Tonight" and "Natural Force" in 2009 with the addition of two B-Sides, which were not featured on the albums in the original release in the 1970s.^[32][33] This was to be the first official release of four of Tyler's co-written songs from the 1970s since the release of Total Eclipse Anthology in 2002.

On 1 November 2009, Tyler joined artists such as Escala, Joss Stone and Bananarama in a charity concert in support of breast cancer research. It was held at the Royal Albert Hall as a fundraiser for Pinktober.^[34]

The 2010s[link]

In 2010, Tyler appeared in a television advertisement for MasterCard singing a parody of "Total Eclipse of the Heart".^[35] Tyler performed in Australia for the first time in her career in the end of October, first as a supporting guest for Robin Gibb^[36] and then performing her own shows in Australia and New Zeland.

In November, Albert Hammond released an album called Legend, which featured some of his most successful compositions, with many re-recorded as duets.^[37] Hammond and Tyler recorded a version of Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".

In 2011, Tyler made a guest appearance in the music video "Newport State of Mind", a parody of the Jay Z and Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind" for the BBC's Comic Relief charity. Towards the end of 2011, Tyler dueted with the singer Laura Zen on "Amour Éternel", a new French/English version of The Bangles' 1989 hit "Eternal Flame". It was released to French radio stations on 29 August 2011.^[38] It was then released as an MP3 download in France on 26 September 2011, and also included on Tyler's triple-disc Best Of 3 CD album on 3 October 2011. Also in 2011, Tyler won an award at the BMI London Awards for "It's A Heartache"^[39] and appeared on Ukraine X Factor as one of the three British guests, alongside Kylie Minogue and Cher Lloyd, performing "It's A Heartache", "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" and "Holding Out For A Hero". In December 2011, a portrait of Tyler by Rolf Harris was sold by Cathy Sims for £50,000 on BBC's Antiques Roadshow.^[40]

On 13 February 2012, news of the release of Tyler's new album was released on her website.^[41] It claimed that Tyler has been working in Nashville to record a new country/rock album which will be available as a CD and online for digital download for an expected release in 2012. David Huff has been named the producer and songwriters for the tracks include Desmond Child and Frank J. Myers as well as a duet with country musician Vince Gill. On 16 April, an update on Tyler's website confirmed the duet (named "What You Need From Me"), and commented that Tyler had arrived in Los Angeles two days prior to the update to assist with mixing the recorded tracks. It was later announced on Tyler's website that it is due to receive a new design in conjunction to the upcoming album.^[42]

In March 2012, a newly recorded track was released on SoundCloud entitled "Never Gonna Take No For An Answer". The song was written by Ed Poole and Martin Brown.^[43]

In April 2012, the record label Rdeg re-released Goodbye to the Island, Angel Heart and Bitterblue digitally.^[44][45]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

Tours[link]

• 1988: Hide Your Heart Tour
• 1994: Silhouette in Red Tour
• 1996: Free Spirit Tour
• 2003: Heart Strings Tour

Personal life[link]

After global success in the 1980s, Tyler and her husband Robert Sullivan decided to try to have a baby when she was aged 39. Tyler miscarried and did not conceive again.^[46]

Throughout her career, Tyler and her husband have owned a villa in Mumbles in Wales.^[47] They also own a home in the Algarve (in Albufeira, south Portugal), after Tyler recorded one of her albums there in the late 1970s.^[48] In 2005, Tyler was filmed for a short Polish entertainment TV show called Zacisze gwiazd, which explores the houses of actors and musicians.^[49]

Some of Tyler's siblings have also been recognised to have a career in music. Her bother, Paul Hopkins, is lead singer of local Swansea band, Sunshine Cab Co.^[50][51] He co-wrote most of Tyler's 1980s B-sides, including "Time" and "Gonna Get Better" as well as composing some tracks for her albums, such as "The Reason Why" from All in One Voice. Tyler's sister, Avis Hopkins, featured on Mal Pope's musical soundtrack of Cappuccino Girls, singing the track, "Today's My Birthday".^[52] Avis Hopkins changed her name in the 1980s to Amanda Scott and released the track, "Lies" in 1988.^[53][54]

Through her husband, Tyler is related to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and attended her wedding to Michael Douglas, performing "Total Eclipse of the Heart".^[55]

Awards, nominations and accolades[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

Music awards and nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

Brit Awards

Goldene Europa

Steiger Awards

Other commercial achievements[link]

• Tyler was listed as second most famous celebrity from Wales in 2005 by the BBC.^[60]
• Welsh singer Rhydian Roberts selected Tyler's track, "Faster Than The Speed Of Night", for the Tracks Of My Years segment of UK DJ Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 show on September 26, 2011.^[61]

See also[link]

• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (United States)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Eric Clapton CBE
Clapton on stage at the Hard Rock Calling concert, Hyde Park, London on 28 June 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Eric Patrick Clapton
Also known as	Slowhand
Born	(1945-03-30) 30 March 1945 (age 67) Ripley, Surrey, England
Genres	Rock, blues rock, blues, psychedelic rock, hard rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, artist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Warner Bros., Reprise, Polydor, RSO, Atco, Apple, Deram[1]
Associated acts	The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Powerhouse, Cream, Free Creek, The Dirty Mac, Blind Faith, J.J. Cale, The Plastic Ono Band, Delaney, Bonnie & Friends, Derek and the Dominos, Sheryl Crow, The Beatles, Phil Collins, The Rolling Stones, Luciano Pavarotti, The Band, Freddie King, B.B. King, Mark Knopfler, Brian Wilson, John Mayer, Roger Waters, Dire Straits
Website	www.ericclapton.com
Notable instruments
See: Guitars section "Blackie": Fender Stratocaster "Brownie": Fender Stratocaster

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. 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. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.^[2] Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"^[3] and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.^[4]

In the mid 1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market.^[5] Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards,^[6] in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music.^[7] In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.^[8]

Early life[link]

Eric Patrick Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (b. 7 January 1929 d. March 1999) and Edward Walter Fryer (21 March 1920 – 15 May 1985), a 25-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec.^[9] Fryer shipped off to war prior to Clapton's birth and then returned to Canada. Clapton grew up with his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband, Jack Clapp, who was stepfather to Patricia Clapton and her brother Adrian, believing they were his parents and that his mother was actually his older sister. The similarity in surnames gave rise to the erroneous belief that Clapton's real surname is Clapp (Reginald Cecil Clapton was the name of Rose's first husband, Eric Clapton's maternal grandfather).^[10] Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier and moved to Germany,^[11] leaving young Eric with his grandparents in Surrey.^[12]

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.^[12] Two years later Clapton picked it up again and started playing consistently.^[12] Clapton was influenced by the blues from an early age, and practised long hours to learn the chords of blues music by playing along to the records.^[13] He preserved his practice sessions using his portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder, listening to them over and over until he felt he'd got it right.^[13][14]

After leaving Hollyfield School, in Surbiton, in 1961, Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. His guitar playing was so advanced that by the age of 16 he was getting noticed.^[14] Around this time Clapton began busking around Kingston, Richmond, and the West End.^[15] In 1962, Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast David Brock in pubs around Surrey.^[14] When he was seventeen years old Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B group, "The Roosters", whose other guitarist was Tom McGuinness. He stayed with this band from January through August 1963.^[16] In October of that year, Clapton did a seven-gig stint with Casey Jones & The Engineers.^[16]

Career[link]

1960s[link]

The Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers[link]

In October 1963 Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band, and stayed with them until March 1965. Synthesising influences from Chicago blues and leading blues guitarists such as Buddy Guy, Freddie King, and B. B. King, Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene.^[17] The band initially played Chess/Checker/Vee-Jay blues numbers and began to attract a large cult following when they took over the Rolling Stones' residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. They toured England with American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II; a joint LP album, recorded in December 1963, was issued in 1965.

It was during this time period that Clapton's Yardbirds rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, recalled that whenever Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing what is called a "slow handclap". Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, that, "My nickname of 'Slowhand' came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into Slowhand as a play on words".^[18]

In March 1965 the Yardbirds had their first major hit, "For Your Love", on which Clapton played guitar. The Yardbirds elected to move toward a pop-oriented sound, in part because of the success of "For Your Love", written by pop songwriter-for-hire Graham Gouldman, who had also written hit songs for Herman's Hermits and The Hollies. Still musically devoted to the blues, Clapton was opposed to the move, and left the band. He recommended fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement, but Page was at that time unwilling to relinquish his lucrative career as a freelance studio musician, so Page in turn recommended Clapton's successor, Jeff Beck.^[17] While Beck and Page played together in the Yardbirds, the trio of Beck, Page, and Clapton were never in the group together. However, the trio did appear on the 12-date benefit tour for Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis in 1983, as well as on the album Guitar Boogie.

Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April 1965, only to quit a few months later. In the summer of 1965 he left for Greece with a band called The Glands, which included his old friend Ben Palmer on piano. In November 1965 he rejoined John Mayall. During his second Bluesbreakers stint, Clapton gained a reputation as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit. Although Clapton gained world fame for his playing on the influential album, Blues Breakers – John Mayall – With Eric Clapton, this album was not released until Clapton had left the Bluesbreakers for the last time. Having swapped his Fender Telecaster and Vox AC30 amplifier for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and Marshall amplifier, Clapton's sound and playing inspired a well-publicised graffiti that deified him with the famous slogan "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a now-famous photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Clapton is reported to have been embarrassed by the slogan, saying in his The South Bank Show profile in 1987, "I never accepted that I was the greatest guitar player in the world. I always wanted to be the greatest guitar player in the world, but that's an ideal, and I accept it as an ideal". The phrase began to appear in other areas of Islington throughout the mid 1960s.^[19]

Cream[link]

Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 (to be replaced by Peter Green) and formed Cream, one of the earliest supergroups, with Jack Bruce on bass (also of Manfred Mann, the Bluesbreakers, and the Graham Bond Organisation) and Ginger Baker on drums (another member of the Graham Bond Organisation). Before the formation of Cream, Clapton was not well known in the United States; he left the Yardbirds before "For Your Love" hit the American Top Ten, and had yet to perform there.^[20] During his time with Cream, Clapton began to develop as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, though Bruce took most of the lead vocals and wrote the majority of the material with lyricist Pete Brown.^[17] Cream's first gig was an unofficial performance at the Twisted Wheel Club in Manchester on 29 July 1966 before their full debut two nights later at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Cream established its enduring legend with the high-volume blues jamming and extended solos of their live shows.

In early 1967 Clapton's status as Britain's top guitarist was rivalled by the emergence of Jimi Hendrix, an acid rock-infused guitarist who used wailing feedback and effects pedals to create new sounds for the instrument. Hendrix attended a performance of the newly-formed Cream at the Central London Polytechnic on 1 October 1966, during which Hendrix sat in on a double-timed version of "Killing Floor". Top UK stars including Clapton, Pete Townshend, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances. Hendrix's arrival had an immediate and major effect on the next phase of Clapton's career, although Clapton continued to be recognised in UK music polls as the premier guitarist.

Clapton first visited the United States while touring with Cream. In March 1967, Cream performed a nine-show stand at the RKO Theater in New York. They recorded Disraeli Gears in New York from 11–15 May 1967. Cream's repertoire varied from hard rock ("I Feel Free") to lengthy blues-based instrumental jams ("Spoonful"). Disraeli Gears featured Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing, and Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming. Together, Cream's talents secured them as an influential power trio.

In 28 months, Cream had become a commercial success, selling millions of records and playing throughout the U.S. and Europe. They redefined the instrumentalist's role in rock and were one of the first blues-rock bands to emphasise musical virtuosity and lengthy jazz-style improvisation sessions. Their U.S. hit singles include "Sunshine of Your Love" (#5, 1968), "White Room" (#6, 1968) and "Crossroads" (#28, 1969) – a live version of Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues". Though Cream was hailed as one of the greatest groups of its day, and the adulation of Clapton as a guitar hero reached new heights, the supergroup was short-lived. Drug and alcohol use escalated tension between the three members, and conflicts between Bruce and Baker eventually led to Cream's demise. A strongly critical Rolling Stone review of a concert of the group's second headlining U.S. tour was another significant factor in the trio's demise, and it affected Clapton profoundly.^[21]

Cream's farewell album, Goodbye, featuring live performances recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, 19 October 1968, was released shortly after Cream disbanded; it also featured the studio single "Badge", co-written by Clapton and George Harrison. Clapton met Harrison and became friends with him after the Beatles shared a bill with the Clapton-era Yardbirds at the London Palladium. The close friendship between Clapton and Harrison resulted in Clapton's playing on Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the Beatles' White Album (1968). Harrison also released his solo debut album, Wonderwall Music, in 1968. It became the first of many Harrison solo records to feature Clapton on guitar. Clapton would go largely uncredited for his contributions to Harrison's albums due to contractual restraints. The pair would often play live together as each other's guest. A year after Harrison's death in 2001, Clapton helped organise a tribute concert, for which he was musical director.^[22]

Cream briefly reunited in 1993 to perform at the ceremony inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a full reunion took place in May 2005, with Clapton, Bruce, and Baker playing four sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall,^[23] and three shows at New York's Madison Square Garden that October.^[24] Recordings from the London shows, Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005, were released on CD, LP, and DVD in September/December 2005.^[25]

Blind Faith and Delaney and Bonnie and Friends[link]

Clapton's next group, Blind Faith (1969), was composed of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood of Traffic, and Ric Grech of Family, and yielded one LP and one arena-circuit tour. The supergroup debuted before 100,000 fans in London's Hyde Park on 7 June 1969. They performed several dates in Scandinavia and began a sold-out American tour in July before their only album was released. The LP Blind Faith consisted of just six songs, one of them a 15-minute jam entitled "Do What You Like". The album's jacket image of a topless pubescent girl was deemed controversial in the United States and was replaced by a photograph of the band. Blind Faith dissolved after less than seven months.

Clapton subsequently toured as a sideman for an act that had opened for Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. He also played two dates as a member of The Plastic Ono Band that autumn, including a recorded performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969 released as the album Live Peace in Toronto 1969.^[26] On 15 December 1969 Clapton performed with John Lennon, George Harrison, and others as the Plastic Ono Band at a fundraiser for UNICEF in London.^[26]

Delaney Bramlett encouraged Clapton in his singing and writing. During the summer of 1969, Clapton and Bramlett contributed to the Music From Free Creek "supersession" project. Clapton, appearing as "King Cool" for contractual reasons, played with Dr. John on three songs, joined by Bramlett on two tracks.

Using the Bramletts' backing group and an all-star cast of session players (including Leon Russell and Stephen Stills), Clapton recorded his first solo album during two brief tour hiatuses, fittingly named Eric Clapton. Delaney Bramlett co-wrote six of the songs with Clapton,^[27] and Bonnie Bramlett co-wrote "Let It Rain".^[28] The album yielded the unexpected U.S. #18 hit, J. J. Cale's "After Midnight". Clapton went with Delaney and Bonnie from the stage to the studio with the Dominos to record George Harrison's All Things Must Pass in spring 1970. During this busy period, Clapton also recorded with other artists including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Billy Preston, and Ringo Starr.

1970s[link]

Derek and the Dominos[link]

	"Layla" noicon 27-second sample of the song "Layla", as performed by Derek and the Dominos
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

With the intention to counteract the "star" cult faction that had begun to form around him, Clapton assembled a new band composed of Delaney and Bonnie's former rhythm section, Bobby Whitlock as keyboardist and vocalist, Carl Radle as the bassist, and drummer Jim Gordon, with Clapton playing guitar. It was his intention to show that he need not fill a starring role, and functioned well as a member of an ensemble.^[29] Naming the band, "Eric Clapton and Friends" at first, the name "Derek and the Dominos" was a fluke. It occurred when the band's provisional name of "Del and the Dynamos" was misread as Derek and the Dominos.^[30] Clapton's biography states that Tony Ashton of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke told Clapton to call the band "Del and the Dominos", since "Del" was his nickname for Eric Clapton. Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos".^[31]

Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison brought him into contact with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970). Heavily blues-influenced, the album features the twin lead guitars of Duane Allman and Clapton, with Allman's slide guitar as a key ingredient of the sound. Working at Criteria Studios in Miami with Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, who had worked with Clapton on Cream's Disraeli Gears, the band recorded a double album.

The album features the hit love song "Layla", inspired by the classical poet of Persian literature, Nizami Ganjavi's The Story of Layla and Majnun, a copy of which Ian Dallas had given to Clapton. The book moved Clapton profoundly, as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he could not marry her.^[32][33] The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down several months later, drummer Jim Gordon composed and played the piano part.^[31]

The Layla LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd—who was also producing the Allmans—invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists met first on stage, then played all night in the studio, and became friends. Duane first added his slide guitar to "Tell the Truth" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". In four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "Key to the Highway", "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" (a blues standard popularised by Freddie King and others), and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad". In September, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band, and the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues", and "Keep on Growing". Duane returned to record "I am Yours", "Anyday", and "It's Too Late". On 9 September, they recorded Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "It's Too Late", was recorded.^[34]

Eric Clapton in Barcelona, 1974

Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a cover of "Little Wing" as a tribute to Hendrix. On 17 September 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the Layla album received only lukewarm reviews upon release. The shaken group undertook a U.S. tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amidst a veritable blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the live double album In Concert.^[35] The band had recorded several tracks for a second album in London during the spring of 1971 (five of which were released on the Eric Clapton box-set Crossroads), but the results were mediocre.

A second record was in the works when a clashing of egos took place and Clapton walked, thus disbanding the group. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on 29 October 1971. Although Radle would remain Clapton's bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), it would be 2003 before Clapton and Whitlock appeared together again (Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the Later with Jools Holland show). Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer Jim Gordon, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic and years later murdered his mother during a psychotic episode. Gordon was confined to 16-years-to-life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remains today.^[17]

Solo career[link]

Clapton's career successes in the 1970s were in stark contrast with his personal life, which was troubled by romantic longings and drug and alcohol addiction.^[36] While suffering his (temporarily) unrequited and intense attraction to Pattie Boyd, he withdrew from recording and touring to isolation in his Surrey, England, residence. There he nursed his heroin addiction, which resulted in a career hiatus interrupted only by the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 (where he passed out on stage, was revived, and continued his performance).^[17] In January 1973, The Who's Pete Townshend organised a comeback concert for Clapton at London's Rainbow Theatre, aptly titled the "Rainbow Concert", to help Clapton kick his addiction. Clapton would return the favour by playing 'The Preacher' in Ken Russell's film version of The Who's Tommy in 1975; his appearance in the film (performing "Eyesight to the Blind") is notable as he is clearly wearing a fake beard in some shots, the result of deciding to shave off his real beard after the initial takes in an attempt to force the director to remove his earlier scene from the movie and leave the set.^[31]

Yvonne Elliman with Clapton promoting 461 Ocean Boulevard in 1975

In 1974, now partnered with Pattie (they would not actually marry until 1979) and no longer using heroin (although starting to drink heavily), Clapton put together a more low-key touring band that included Radle, Miami guitarist George Terry, keyboardist Dick Sims (who died in 2011 ^[37]), drummer Jamie Oldaker, and vocalists Yvonne Elliman and Marcy Levy (also known as Marcella Detroit). With this band Clapton recorded 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974), an album with an emphasis on more compact songs and fewer guitar solos; the cover version of "I Shot The Sheriff" was Clapton's first #1 hit and was important in bringing reggae and the music of Bob Marley to a wider audience. The 1975 album There's One in Every Crowd continued this trend. The album's original title, The World's Greatest Guitar Player (There's One In Every Crowd), was changed before pressing, as it was felt its ironic intention would be misunderstood. The band toured the world and subsequently released the 1975 live LP, E.C. Was Here.^[38] Clapton continued to release albums and toured regularly. Highlights of the period include No Reason to Cry (a collaboration with Bob Dylan and The Band); Slowhand, which featured "Wonderful Tonight" (another song inspired by Boyd);^[39] and a second J.J. Cale cover, "Cocaine". In 1976 he performed, alongside a string of notable guests, to pay tribute to the farewell performance of The Band, filmed in a Martin Scorsese documentary called the Last Waltz.

1980s[link]

In 1981 Clapton was invited by producer Martin Lewis to appear at the Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Clapton accepted the invitation and teamed up with Jeff Beck to perform a series of duets—reportedly their first-ever billed stage collaboration. Three of the performances were released on the album of the show, and one of the songs was featured in the film. The performances heralded a return to form and prominence for Clapton in the new decade. Many factors had influenced Clapton's comeback, including his "deepening commitment to Christianity", to which he had converted prior to his heroin addiction.^[40][41]

After an embarrassing fishing incident, Clapton finally called his manager and admitted he was an alcoholic. In January 1982 Roger and Clapton flew to Minneapolis – St. Paul; Clapton would be checked in at Hazelden Treatment Center, located in Center City, Minnesota. On the flight over, Clapton indulged in a large number of drinks, for fear he would never be able to drink again. Clapton is quoted as saying from his autobiography, "In the lowest moments of my life, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink any more if I was dead. It was the only thing I thought was worth living for, and the idea that people were about to try and remove me from alcohol was so terrible that I drank and drank and drank, and they had to practically carry me into the clinic."^[42]

After being discharged, it was recommended by doctors of Hazelden that Clapton not partake in any activities that would act as triggers for his alcoholism or stress, until he was fully situated back at Hurtwood. A few months after his discharge, Clapton began working on his next album, against the Hazelden doctors' orders. Working with Tom Dowd, Clapton produced what he thought as his "most forced" album to date, Money and Cigarettes.

In 1984 he performed on Pink Floyd member Roger Waters' solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, and went on tour with Waters following the release of the album. Since then Waters and Clapton have had a close relationship. In 2005 they performed together for the Tsunami Relief Fund. In 2006 they performed at the Highclere Castle, in aid of the Countryside Alliance, playing two set pieces of "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". Clapton, now a seasoned charity performer, played at the Live Aid concert on 13 July 1985.^[43] When offered a slot close to peak viewing hours, he was apparently flattered. As Clapton recovered from his addictions, his album output continued in the 1980s, including two produced with Phil Collins, 1985's Behind the Sun, which produced the hits "Forever Man" and "She's Waiting", and 1986's August.

Tina Turner and Eric Clapton at Wembley Arena, 18 June 1987

August was suffused with Collins's trademark drum and horn sound, and became Clapton's biggest seller in the UK to date, matching his highest chart position, number 3. The album's first track, the hit "It's In The Way That You Use It", was featured in the Tom Cruise – Paul Newman movie The Color of Money. The horn-peppered "Run" echoed Collins' "Sussudio" and rest of the producer's Genesis/solo output, while "Tearing Us Apart" (with Tina Turner) and the unimpressed "Miss You" echoed Clapton's angry sound. This rebound kicked off Clapton's two-year period of touring with Collins and their August collaborates, bassist Nathan East and keyboard player/songwriter Greg Phillinganes. While on tour for August, two concert videos were recorded of the four-man band, Eric Clapton Live from Montreux and Eric Clapton and Friends. Clapton later remade "After Midnight" as a single and a promotional track for the Michelob beer brand, which had also marketed earlier songs by Collins and Steve Winwood. Clapton won a British Academy Television Award for his collaboration with Michael Kamen on the score for the 1985 BBC Television thriller serial Edge of Darkness. In 1989, Clapton released Journeyman, an album which covered a wide range of styles including blues, jazz, soul and pop. Collaborators included George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, Chaka Khan, Mick Jones, David Sanborn and Robert Cray.

George Harrison and Clapton at the Prince's Trust Concert, Wembley Arena, 1987

In 1984, while still married to Pattie Boyd, Clapton began a year-long relationship with Yvonne Kelly. The two had a daughter, Ruth, who was born in January 1985, but her existence was kept a secret by her parents. She was not publicly revealed as his child until 1991.^[44] Boyd criticised Clapton because he had not revealed the child's existence.^[45]

At the 1987 Brit Awards in London, Clapton picked up the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music.^[46] Hurricane Hugo hit Montserrat in 1989, and this resulted in the closure of Sir George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and stories about Eric's secret daughter began as a result of newspaper articles published at the time.^[44] Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1988 following his affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to their son, Conor, on 21 August 1986.^[47] Boyd was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at in vitro fertilisation.^[45][47] Their divorce was granted on grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour."^[45]

Clapton was known to date a host of beautiful women, including Krissy Wood (ex-wife of Ron Wood), actress Charlotte Martin, socialite Alice Ormsby-Gore, Paula Boyd (the younger sister of his future wife Pattie), singer Janis Joplin, singer Marianne Faithfull, rock muses Catherine James, Cyrinda Fox, and Geraldine Edwards, the inspiration for Penny Lane in Almost Famous, singer Rosanne Cash, the First Lady of France and former model Carla Bruni, and actresses Patsy Kensit, Sharon Stone, and Alicia Witt.^[48]

1990s[link]

The 1990s brought a series of 32 concerts to the Royal Albert Hall, such as the 24 Nights series of concerts that took place around January through February 1990, and February through March 1991. On 27 August 1990, fellow blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touring with Clapton, and three members of their road crew were killed in a helicopter crash between concerts. Then, on 20 March 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, died after falling from the 53rd-floor window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment at 117 East 57th Street. He landed on the roof of an adjacent four-story building. Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which was co-written by Will Jennings. At the 35th Grammy Awards, Clapton received six Grammy Awards for the single "Tears in Heaven" and his Unplugged album.^[49] The album reached number one on the Billboard 200, and has since been certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies in the United States.^[50] On 9 September 1992, Clapton performed "Tears in Heaven" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, and won the award for Best Male Video.^[51][52]

In October 1992 Clapton was among the dozens of artists performing at Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. Recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the live two-disk CD/DVD captured a show full of celebrities performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with a few performances from Dylan himself. Despite the presence of 10 other guitarists on stage, including George Harrison, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn, Steve Cropper, Tom Petty, and Dylan, Clapton played the lead on a nearly 7-minute version of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" as part of the finale.

While Unplugged featured Clapton playing acoustic guitar, his 1994 album From the Cradle contained new versions of old blues standards, highlighted by his electric guitar playing.^[53] Clapton's 1996 recording of the Wayne Kirkpatrick/Gordon Kennedy/Tommy Sims tune "Change the World" (featured in the soundtrack of the movie Phenomenon) won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1997, the same year he recorded Retail Therapy (an album of electronic music with Simon Climie under the pseudonym TDF). The following year, Clapton released the album Pilgrim, the first record featuring new material for almost a decade.^[41] Clapton finished the twentieth century with collaborations with Carlos Santana and B. B. King.

In 1996 Clapton had a relationship with singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow. They remain friends, and Clapton appeared as a guest on Crow's Central Park Concert. The duo performed a Cream hit single, "White Room". Later, Clapton and Crow performed an alternate version of "Tulsa Time" with other guitar legends at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in June 2007.

In 1998 Clapton, then 53, met 22-year-old administrative assistant Melia McEnery in Columbus, Ohio, at a party given for him after a performance. He quietly dated her for a year, and went public with the relationship in 1999. They married on 1 January 2002 at St Mary Magdalene church in Clapton's birthplace, Ripley. As of 2005 they have three daughters, Julie Rose (13 June 2001), Ella May (14 January 2003), and Sophie Belle (1 February 2005).

At the 41st Grammy Awards on 24 February 1999, Clapton received his third Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for his song "My Father's Eyes".^[54] In October 1999, the compilation album, Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton, was released, which contained a new song, "Blue Eyes Blue", that also appears in soundtrack for the film, Runaway Bride.^[55][56]

2000s[link]

Clapton performing at the TUI Arena of Hannover (Germany) on 2 April 2004

Following the release of the 2001 record Reptile, in June 2002, Clapton performed "Layla" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the Party at the Palace concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.^[57] On 29 November 2002, the Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall, a tribute to George Harrison, who had died a year earlier of cancer.^[58] Clapton was a performer and the musical director. The concert featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Ravi Shankar, Gary Brooker, Billy Preston, Joe Brown and Dhani Harrison.^[58] In 2004, Clapton released two albums of covers of songs by bluesman Robert Johnson, Me and Mr. Johnson and Sessions for Robert J. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Clapton #53 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".^[59]

Performance for Tsunami Relief Cardiff

On 22 January 2005, 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. In May 2005 Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker reunited as Cream for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Concert recordings were released on CD and DVD. Later, Cream performed in New York at Madison Square Garden. Back Home, Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, was released on Reprise Records on 30 August. In 2006 he invited Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II to join his band for his 2006–2007 world tour. Trucks is the third member of the Allman Brothers Band to tour supporting Clapton, the second being pianist/keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who appeared on the MTV Unplugged album and the 24 Nights performances at the Royal Albert Hall theatre of London in 1990 and 1991, as well as Clapton's 1992 U.S. tour.

On 20 May 2006, Clapton performed with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and former Pink Floyd bassist/songwriter Roger Waters at the Highclere Castle, Hampshire, in support of the Countryside Alliance.^[60] On 13 August 2006, Clapton made a guest appearance at the Bob Dylan concert in Columbus, Ohio, playing guitar on three songs in Jimmie Vaughan's opening act.^[61] A collaboration with guitarist J. J. Cale, titled The Road to Escondido, was released on 7 November 2006, featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston. The 14-track CD was produced and recorded by the duo in August 2005 in California. The chemistry between Trucks and Clapton convinced him to invite The Derek Trucks Band to open for Clapton's set at his 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Trucks remained on set afterward, performed with Clapton's band throughout his performances, and later embarked on a world tour with him.

The rights to Clapton's official memoirs, written by Christopher Simon Sykes and published in 2007, were sold at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair for US$4 million.^[62]

On 26 February 2008, it was reported that North Korean officials had invited Clapton to play a concert in the communist state.^[63] Clapton's management received the invitation and passed it on to the singer, who agreed in principle and suggested it take place sometime in 2009.^[64] Kristen Foster, a spokesperson, said, "Eric Clapton receives numerous offers to play in countries around the world," and "[t]here is no agreement whatsoever for him to play in North Korea."^[65]

Eric Clapton (fourth from left) and his band live in 2007

In 2007 Clapton learned more about his father, a Canadian soldier who left the UK after the war. Although Clapton's grandparents eventually told him the truth about his parentage, he only knew that his father's name was Edward Fryer. This was a source of disquiet for Clapton, as witnessed by his 1998 song "My Father's Eyes". A Montreal journalist named Michael Woloschuk researched Canadian Armed Forces service records and tracked down members of Fryer's family, and finally pieced together the story. He learned that Clapton's father was Edward Walter Fryer, born 21 March 1920, in Montreal and died 15 May 1985 in Newmarket, Ontario. Fryer was a musician (piano and saxophone) and a lifelong drifter who was married several times, had several children, and apparently never knew that he was the father of Eric Clapton.^[66] Clapton thanked Woloschuk in an encounter at Macdonald Cartier Airport, in Ottawa, Canada.^[67]

In February 2008 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. The two former Blind Faith bandmates met again for a series of 14 concerts throughout the United States in June 2009.

Clapton's 2008 Summer Tour began on 3 May at the Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa Bay, Florida, and then moved to Canada, Ireland, England, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Monaco. On 28 June 2008, he headlined Saturday night for Hard Rock Calling 2008 in London's Hyde Park (previously Hyde Park Calling) with support from Sheryl Crow and John Mayer.^[68][69] In September 2008 Clapton performed at a private charity fundraiser for The Countryside Alliance at Floridita in Soho, London, that included such guests as the London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Clapton performing with The Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theater

In March 2009, the Allman Brothers Band (amongst many notable guests) celebrated their 40th year, dedicating their string of concerts to the late Duane Allman on their annual run at the Beacon Theatre. 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. Songs like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" were punctuated with others, including "The Weight", with Levon Helm; Johnny Winter sitting in on Hendrix's "Red House"; and "Layla". On 4 May 2009 Clapton appeared as a featured guest at the Royal Albert Hall, playing "Further on Up the Road" with Joe Bonamassa.

Clapton was scheduled to be one of the performers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert in Madison Square Garden on 30 October 2009, but cancelled due to gallstone surgery.^[70] Van Morrison (who also cancelled)^[71] said in an interview that he and Clapton were to do a "couple of songs", but that they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".^[72]

2010s[link]

Clapton performed a two-night show with Jeff Beck at London's O2 Arena on 13–14 February 2010.^[73] The two former Yardbirds extended their 2010 tour with stops at Madison Square Garden,^[74] the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and the Bell Centre in Montreal.^[75] Clapton performed a series of concerts in 11 cities throughout the United States from 25 February to 13 March 2010, including Roger Daltrey as opening act. His third European tour with Steve Winwood began on 18 May and ended 13 June, including Tom Norris as opening act. He then began a short North American tour lasting from 26 June to 3 July, starting with his third Crossroads Guitar Festival on 26 June at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois. Clapton released a new studio album, Clapton, on 27 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and 28 September 2010 in the United States. On 17 November 2010, 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.^[76]

On 24 June 2011 Clapton was in concert with Pino Daniele in Cava de' Tirreni stadium, Italy, with an audience of 15,000 people before performing a series of concerts in South America from 6 to 16 October 2011. He spent the November and December 2011 touring Japan with Steve Winwood, playing 13 shows in various cities throughout the country. On 24 February 2012 Clapton, Keith Richards, Gary Clark Jr., Derek Trucks, Doyle Bramhall II, Kim Wilson and other artists performed together in the Howlin' For Hubert Tribute concert held at the Apollo Theater of NYC honoring blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin who died at age 80 in 4 December.

Influences[link]

Clapton cites Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Hubert Sumlin as guitar playing influences. Clapton stated blues musician Robert Johnson to be his single most important influence. In 2004 Clapton released CDs and DVDs entitled Sessions for Robert Johnson, featuring Clapton covering Robert Johnson songs using electric and acoustic guitars.^[77]

Clapton co-authored with others the book Discovering Robert Johnson, in which Clapton said Johnson was^[78]

"...the most important blues musician who ever lived. He 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. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice, really. ... it seemed to echo something I had always felt."

Legacy[link]

Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.^{[2][79][80][81]} 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.^[82] He ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"^[3] and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.^[4]

Guitarists influenced by Clapton include Richie Sambora, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Duane Allman, Derek Trucks,^[83] Eddie Van Halen, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Lenny Kravitz, Slash, Orianthi,Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Jonny Buckland, Joe Don Rooney, Alex Lifeson, Jonny Lang, John Mayer, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Davy Knowles, and George Harrison.

Guitars[link]

Clapton on the There's One In Every Crowd Tour, with "Blackie" on 15 August 1975

Clapton's choice of electric guitars has been as notable as the man himself; alongside Hank Marvin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, Clapton exerted a crucial and widespread influence in popularising particular models of electric guitar.^[84] With the Yardbirds, Clapton played a Fender Telecaster, a Fender Jazzmaster, a double-cutaway Gretsch 6120, and a 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335. He 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. Clapton commented on the slim profile of the neck, which would indicate it was a 1960 model.^[85]

Early during his stint in Cream, Clapton's first Les Paul Standard was stolen. He continued to play Les Pauls exclusively with Cream (one bought from Andy Summers was almost identical to the stolen guitar)^[86] until 1967, when he acquired his most famous guitar in this period, a 1964 Gibson SG.^[87] Just before Cream's first U.S. appearance in 1967, Clapton's SG, Bruce's Fender VI, and Baker's drum head were all repainted in psychedelic designs created by the visual art collective known as The Fool. In 1968 Clapton bought a Gibson Firebird and started using the 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335 again.^[87] The aforementioned 1964 ES-335 had a storied career. Clapton used it at the last Cream show in November 1968 as well as with Blind Faith, played it sparingly for slide pieces in the 1970s, used it on "Hard Times" from Journeyman, the Hyde Park live concert of 1996, and the From the Cradle sessions and tour of 1994–95. It was sold for US$847,500 at a 2004 auction.^[88] Gibson produced a limited run of 250 "Crossroads 335" replicas. The 335 was only the second electric guitar Clapton bought.^[89]

In July 1968 Clapton gave George Harrison a 1957 'goldtop' Gibson Les Paul that been refinished with a red colour. The following September, Clapton played the guitar on the Beatles' studio recording of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". His SG found its way into the hands of George Harrison's friend Jackie Lomax, who subsequently sold it to musician Todd Rundgren for US$500 in 1972. Rundgren restored the guitar and nicknamed it "Sunny", after "Sunshine of Your Love". He retained it until 2000, when he sold it at an auction for US$150,000.^[87] At the 1969 Blind Faith concert in Hyde Park, London Clapton played a Fender Custom Telecaster, which was fitted with "Brownie"'s neck.

In late 1969 Clapton made the switch to the Fender Stratocaster. "I had a lot of influences when I took up the Strat. First there was Buddy Holly, and Buddy Guy. Hank Marvin was the first well known person over here in England who was using one, but that wasn't really my kind of music. Steve Winwood had so much credibility, and when he started playing one, I thought, oh, if he can do it, I can do it."^[90] The first—used during the recording of Eric Clapton—was "Brownie", which in 1974 became the backup to the most famous of all Clapton's guitars, "Blackie". In November 1970 Eric bought six Fender Stratocasters from the Sho-bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour with the Dominos. He gave one each to George Harrison, Steve Winwood, and Pete Townshend.

Clapton with "Blackie" on tour in the Netherlands, 1978

Clapton assembled the best components of the remaining three to create "Blackie", which was his favourite stage guitar until its retirement in 1985. It was first played live 13 January 1973 at the Rainbow Concert.^[91] Clapton called the 1956/57 Strat a "mongrel".^[92] On 24 June 2004, 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. "Brownie" is now on display at the Experience Music Project.^[93] The Fender Custom Shop has since produced a limited run of 275 'Blackie' replicas, correct in every detail right down to the 'Duck Brothers' flight case, and artificially aged using Fender's 'Relic' process to simulate years of hard wear. One was presented to Eric upon the model's release and was used for three numbers during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 17 May 2006.^[94]

In 1981 Clapton gave his signed Fender Lead II guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe to designate his favourite bar stool. Pete Townshend also donated his own Gibson Les Paul guitar, with a note attached: "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete."^[95]

In 1988 Fender honoured Clapton with the introduction of his signature Eric Clapton Stratocaster.^[96] These were the first two artist models in the Stratocaster range. Since then, the artist series has grown to include models inspired by Clapton's contemporaries such as Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and by those who have influenced him, such as Buddy Guy. Clapton uses Ernie Ball Slinky and Super Slinky strings, gauge .10 to.46.^[97] Clapton has been honoured with several signature-model 000-sized acoustic guitars made by the American firm of C.F. Martin & Company. The first, of these, introduced in 1995, was a limited edition 000-42EC Eric Clapton signature model with a production run of 461. As of December 2007, Martin had produced seven EC signature models.^[98] His 1939 000-42 Martin that he played on the Unplugged album sold for US$791,500 at auction.^[88] Clapton plays a custom 000-ECHF Martin these days.

In 1999, Clapton auctioned off some of his guitar collection to raise more than US$5 million for continuing support of the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which he founded in 1997.^[99] The Crossroads Centre is a treatment base for addictive disorders such as drugs and alcohol. In 2004 Clapton organised and participated in the Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit the Centre. A second guitar auction, including the "Cream" of Clapton's collection – as well as guitars donated by famous friends – was held on 24 June 2004. His Lowden acoustic guitar sold for US$41,825. The revenue garnered by this auction at Christie's was US$7,438,624.^[88]

In 2010 Eric Clapton announced that he would be auctioning off over 150 items at a New York auction in 2011. Proceeds will benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua. Items include Clapton's guitar from the Cream reunion tour in 2005, speaker cabinets used in the early 1970s from his days with Derek and the Dominoes, and some guitars from Jeff Beck, J.J. Cale, and Joe Bonamassa.^[100] In March 2011 Clapton raised more than US$2.15 million when he auctioned off key items, including a 1984 Gibson hollow body guitar, a Gianni Versace suit from his 1990 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, and a replica of the famous Fender Stratocaster known as "Blackie", which fetched more than $30,000. All proceeds from the auction were donated to Clapton's Crossroads drug and rehabilitation centre in Antigua.

The "woman tone" is the informal term used by Clapton to refer to his distinctive mid- to late-1960s electric guitar sound, created using his Gibson SG solid body guitar (with Humbucker pick-ups) and a Marshall tube amplifier.^[101] It is an overdriven sound that is articulate yet thick. It is characterised by being quite distorted (or even achieved with a fuzz) but muted, in contrast to the bright and twangy distortion that most guitarists were using at the time. Many players have tried to duplicate it, usually without success, in part because Clapton's playing technique had a lot to do with the tone.

Among the techniques used to replicate Clapton's sound is a technique by which the amplifier's volume is turned up to full, while the guitar's tone knob is turned down to zero or one.^[102]

Perhaps the best example of the "woman tone" is Clapton's famous riff and solo from Cream's 1967 hit "Sunshine of Your Love". Clapton has explained that he obtained the tone with his Gibson's tone control rolled all the way down, switching to the neck pick-up (closest to the fretboard) and the volume all the way up, with his distortion turned all the way up. The treble, mids and bass controls on the amplifier were also maxed out. Some versions of the "woman tone" may also have involved strategic positioning of Clapton's wah-wah pedal.

Other media appearances[link]

Clapton frequently appears as a guest on the albums of other musicians. For example, he is credited on Dire Straits's Brothers in Arms album, as he lent Mark Knopfler one of his guitars. He played lead guitar and synthesiser on The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Roger Waters' debut solo album. Other media appearances include the Toots & the Maytals album True Love, where he played guitar on the track "Pressure Drop". He can also be heard at the beginning of Frank Zappa's album, We're Only in It for the Money, repeating the phrase, "Are you hung up?" over and over again. In 1985, Clapton appeared on the charity concert Live Aid in Philadelphia with Phil Collins, Tim Renwick, Chris Stainton, Jamie Oldaker, Marcy Levy, Shaun Murphy, and Donald 'Duck' Dunn. In 1988 he played with Dire Straits and Elton John at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium and the Prince's Trust rock gala at the Royal Albert Hall. On 30 June 1990, Dire Straits, Clapton, and Elton John made a guest appearance in the Nordoff-Robbins charity show held at Knebworth.^[103] In 1991 Clapton was featured on Richie Sambora's album, Stranger In This Town, in a song dedicated to him, called "Mr. Bluesman". He contributed guitar and vocals to "Runaway Train", a duet with Elton John on the latter's The One album the following year.

On 12 September 1996 Clapton played a party for Armani at New York City's Lexington Armory with Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East, and Steve Gadd. Sheryl Crow appeared on one number, performing "Tearing Us Apart", a track from August, which was first performed by Tina Turner during the Prince's Trust All-Star Rock show in 1986. It was Clapton's sole US appearance that year, following the open-air concert held at Hyde Park.^[104] The concert was taped and the footage was released both on VHS video cassette and later, on DVD.^[104]

Clapton was featured in the movie version of Tommy, the first full length rock opera, written by The Who. The movie version gave Clapton a cameo appearance as The Preacher, performing Sonny Boy Williamson's song, "Eyesight to the Blind". He appeared in Blues Brothers 2000 as one of the Louisiana Gator Boys. In addition to being in the band, he had a small speaking role. Clapton has appeared in an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. In March 2007 Clapton appeared in an advertisement^[105] for RealNetwork's Rhapsody online music service. In 2010 Clapton started appearing as a spokesman for T-Mobile, advertising their MyTouch Fender cell phone.

Eric Clapton was compared to God's image in the episode "Holy Crap!" of season two of That '70s Show when characters Eric Forman and Steven Hyde are asked by their minister to draw a picture of God.

Political views and advocacy[link]

Clapton is a supporter of the Countryside Alliance, he has played in concerts to raise funds for the organisation and he publicly opposed the Labour Party’s ban on fox hunting. A spokesperson for Clapton said, "Eric supports the Countryside Alliance. He doesn't hunt himself, but does enjoy rural pursuits such as fishing and shooting. He supports the Alliance's pursuit to scrap the ban on the basis that he doesn't agree with the state's interference with people's private pursuits."^[106]

In 2008, he donated a song to Aid Still Required's CD to assist with the restoration of the devastation done to Southeast Asia from the 2004 Tsunami.

Controversy over remarks on immigration[link]

On 5 August 1976 Clapton provoked an uproar and lingering controversy when he spoke out against increasing immigration during a concert in Birmingham. Visibly intoxicated, Clapton voiced his support of controversial political candidate Enoch Powell, and announced on stage that Britain was in danger of becoming a "black colony". Clapton was quoted as saying, "I think Enoch's right ... we should send them all back. Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!"^[107] The latter phrase was at the time a British National Front slogan.^[108] Clapton continued:

"I used to be into dope, now I’m into racism. It’s much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded and Enoch will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking [indecipherable] don’t belong here, we don’t want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don’t want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don’t want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country, what is happening to us, for fuck's sake? We need to vote for Enoch Powell, he’s a great man, speaking truth. Vote for Enoch, he’s our man, he’s on our side, he’ll look after us. I want all of you here to vote for Enoch, support him, he’s on our side. Enoch for Prime Minister! Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!"^[109]

This incident, along with some explicitly pro-fascism remarks made around the same time by David Bowie as well as uses of Nazi-related imagery by Sid Vicious and Siouxsie Sioux, were the main catalysts for the creation of Rock Against Racism, which occurred on 30 April 1978.^[110]

In response to the comments, rock photographer Red Saunders and others published an open letter in NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, and the Socialist Worker. It read "Come on Eric... Own up. Half your music is black. You're rock music's biggest colonist". It concluded, "P.S. Who shot the Sheriff, Eric? It sure as hell wasn't you!"^[110]

In an interview from October 1976 with Sounds magazine, Clapton remarked, "I thought it was quite funny actually. I don't know much about politics. I don't even know if it would be good or bad for him to get in. I don't even know who the Prime Minister is now. I just don't know what came over me that night. It must have been something that happened in the day but it came out in this garbled thing... I thought the whole thing was like Monty Python. There's this rock group playing on-stage and the singer starts talking about politics. It's so stupid. Those people who paid their money sittin' listening to this madman dribbling on and the band meanwhile getting fidgety thinking 'oh dear'."^[111]

In a 2004 interview with Uncut, Clapton referred to Powell as "outrageously brave", and stated that his "feeling about this has not changed", because the UK is still "... inviting people in as cheap labour and then putting them in ghettos." In 2004 Clapton told an interviewer for Scotland on Sunday, "There's no way I could be a racist. It would make no sense".^[112] In his 2007 autobiography, Clapton called himself "deliberately oblivious to it all" and wrote, "I had never really understood or been directly affected by racial conflict ... when I listened to music, I was disinterested in where the players came from or what colour their skin was. Interesting, then, that 10 years later, I would be labelled a racist ... Since then, I have learnt to keep my opinions to myself. Of course, it might also have had something to do with the fact that Pattie had just been leered at by a member of the Saudi royal family."^[113] In a December 2007 interview with Melvyn Bragg on The South Bank Show, Clapton reiterated his support for Enoch Powell and again denied that Powell's views were "racist".^[114]

Wealth and assets[link]

In 2009 Surrey Life Magazine ranked Eric Clapton as number 17 in their list of richest Surrey residents, estimating Clapton's fortune at £120 million in assets. This was a compilation of property and income which include a £9 million yacht, "Va Bene" (previously owned by Bernie Ecclestone), his back music catalogue, his touring income, and his Marshbrook holding company, which had earned him £110 million since 1989.^[115] In 2003, he purchased a 50 per cent share of gentleman's outfitters Cordings Piccadilly.^[116] At the time, owner Noll Uloth was trying to save the shop from closure and thought 'I will go and talk to my best client". He is reported to have contacted Eric and within five minutes he had a reply saying 'I can't let this happen."^[116]

Awards and honours[link]

Football[link]

In 1982 he performed a concert before West Bromwich Albion player John Wile's testimonial game at the Hawthorns, and it is often reported by various sources that Clapton is an Albion supporter. Credence for this notion can be taken from the cover pictures to the "Backless" solo album, where he is seen on the front cover to be wearing a football scarf; the rear cover photograph reveals the slogan "ALBION" on the scarf. It has been reported that the club rejected his offer to invest cash in the club around this time, and that he has since expressed more of an interest in Chelsea.^[124]

Clapton's music in film and TV[link]

• Mean Streets (1973) – "I Looked Away"
• Private Lessons (1981 film) (1981) – Next Time You See Her
• Purple Haze (1983) – "I Feel Free"
• The Hit (1984) – Score
• Miami Vice (1984–1989) – Four songs over the course of the show's five seasons: "Wonderful Tonight", "Knock On Wood", "She's Waiting", and "Layla"
• Back to the Future (1985) – "Heaven Is One Step Away"
• Edge of Darkness (1985) – Soundtrack
• The Color of Money (1986) – "It's In The Way That You Use It"
• SpaceCamp (1986 film) – "Forever Man" plays when Tate Donovan's character arrives at the Space Camp
• The German car manufacturer Opel and Vauxhall in the UK used the guitar riff of Clapton's "Layla" in its advertising campaign throughout in 1987–95.
• Lethal Weapon (1987) – Soundtrack with Michael Kamen
• Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) – "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
• Goodfellas (1990) – "Layla" and "Sunshine of Your Love"^[125]
• Rush (1991) – Clapton wrote the score
• Wayne's World (1992) – "Loving your Loving"
• Peter's Friends (1992) – "Give Me Strength"
• Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) – Clapton contributed to the score and co-wrote and co-performed the song "It's Probably Me" with Sting and "Runaway Train" with Elton John.
• True Lies (1994) – "Sunshine of Your Love"
• The Simpsons episode "Mother Simpson" (1995) – "Sunshine of Your Love"
• Twister (1996) – "Motherless Child"
• Phenomenon (1996) – "Change the World"
• The Van (1996) – Soundtrack
• Happy Gilmore (1996) – "Wonderful Tonight"
• Patch Adams (1998) – "Let It Rain"
• Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) – "Pilgrim"
• City of Angels (1998) – "Further On Up The Road"
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes "Band Candy" and "Forever" (1998) – "Tales of Brave Ulysses"
• Runaway Bride (1999) – "Blue Eyes Blue"
• The Story of Us (1999) – "(I) Get Lost" (featured multiple times)
• Friends episode "The One with the Proposal, Part 2" (2000) – "Wonderful Tonight"
• Dancing At The Blue Iguana (2000) – "River of Tears"
• A Knight's Tale (2001) – "Further On Up The Road"
• Blow (2001) – "Strange Brew"
• Friends episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two" (2002) – "River of Tears"
• Futurama episode "The 30% Iron Chef" (2002) – "Sunshine of Your Love"
• The Sopranos episode "Whitecaps" (2002) – Tony Soprano is seen listening to "Layla" in his Suburban.
• School Of Rock (2003) – "Sunshine of Your Love"
• Starsky & Hutch (2004) – "Cocaine"
• Anger Management (2004) – "Strange Brew"
• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) – "Cocaine"
• Bad News Bears (2005) – "Cocaine"
• Lords of Dogtown (2005) – "Strange Brew"
• Lord of War (2005) – "Cocaine"
• United States of Tara episode – "Cocaine"
• Community episode – "Layla"
• The Good Guys Episode Silvio's Way – "Layla"
• Due Date (2010) – "White Room"
• Shameless (U.S. TV series) (2011) – "White Room"

Discography[link]

References[link]