Eric Patrick Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey on March 30, 1945.
He was the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer, who returned to his wife in Canada before he was born and his 16-year-old mother Patricia Molly Clapton.
Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents Rose and Jack Clapp believing that his mother was his sister.
Eric Clapton's first nickname was Rick (from his middle name Patrick). He only became Eric when he went to secondary school in Surbiton.
Clapton's obsession with playing Blues music as a teenager caused him to be expelled from Kingston College of Art because he was playing the guitar in class.
His nickname is "Slowhand," although he plays very fast. His manager started calling him that while he was touring with The Yardbirds in 1964. Clapton was famous for breaking strings because of his ridiculous bends. When he would go backstage to change strings the audience would start a slow hand clap until he returned.
Clapton's first “really serious” guitar was a cherry red Gibson ES-335, which he bought at the turn of 1965, while he was in The Yardbirds. He wrote in his 2007 autobiography: "It was the first of a new era of guitars, which were thin and semi-acoustic. [The ES-335] was both a ‘rock guitar’ and a ‘blues guitar,’ which you could play, if necessary, without amplification and still hear it."
He was the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer, who returned to his wife in Canada before he was born and his 16-year-old mother Patricia Molly Clapton.
Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents Rose and Jack Clapp believing that his mother was his sister.
Eric Clapton's first nickname was Rick (from his middle name Patrick). He only became Eric when he went to secondary school in Surbiton.
Clapton's obsession with playing Blues music as a teenager caused him to be expelled from Kingston College of Art because he was playing the guitar in class.
His nickname is "Slowhand," although he plays very fast. His manager started calling him that while he was touring with The Yardbirds in 1964. Clapton was famous for breaking strings because of his ridiculous bends. When he would go backstage to change strings the audience would start a slow hand clap until he returned.
Clapton's first “really serious” guitar was a cherry red Gibson ES-335, which he bought at the turn of 1965, while he was in The Yardbirds. He wrote in his 2007 autobiography: "It was the first of a new era of guitars, which were thin and semi-acoustic. [The ES-335] was both a ‘rock guitar’ and a ‘blues guitar,’ which you could play, if necessary, without amplification and still hear it."
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| Eric Clapton in Barcelona, 1974 |
Eric Clapton played the guitar solo on the Beatles classic, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” He and George Harrison were good friends.
In 2000 Eric Clapton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, making him the first person inducted three times. He also got in as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream.
Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment March 20, 1991 after a housekeeper who was cleaning the room left a window open. The tragedy inspired his song "Tears in Heaven," which won Grammys in 1993 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal.
In 1998 Clapton, then 53, met 22-year-old Melia McEnery after the administrative assistant approached the guitar legend for an autograph at a party in LA thrown by Giorgio Armani (she was working for the fashion designer at the time). During the christening of his daughter, Julie Rose on New Years Day January 2002, at St Mary Magdalene church in Ripley, Clapton and Melia McEnery surprised the attendees by getting married.
While on a fly-fishing trip to Iceland in 2016, Eric Clapton landed a 28-pound salmon on the Vatnsdalsá River, setting the record for reeling in the biggest salmon of the summer. He took a quick picture and released it back into the river.
Source Artistfacts
In 2000 Eric Clapton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, making him the first person inducted three times. He also got in as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream.
Eric Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment March 20, 1991 after a housekeeper who was cleaning the room left a window open. The tragedy inspired his song "Tears in Heaven," which won Grammys in 1993 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal.
In 1998 Clapton, then 53, met 22-year-old Melia McEnery after the administrative assistant approached the guitar legend for an autograph at a party in LA thrown by Giorgio Armani (she was working for the fashion designer at the time). During the christening of his daughter, Julie Rose on New Years Day January 2002, at St Mary Magdalene church in Ripley, Clapton and Melia McEnery surprised the attendees by getting married.
While on a fly-fishing trip to Iceland in 2016, Eric Clapton landed a 28-pound salmon on the Vatnsdalsá River, setting the record for reeling in the biggest salmon of the summer. He took a quick picture and released it back into the river.
Source Artistfacts
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