  Eric Clapton was born on March
30, 1945, in England. Clapton's musical
career has developed from band member to solo
artist and has allowed Clapton to be
considered one of the premiere rock and blues
guitarists in history. Clapton was raised by
his grandmother who he thought was his mother
until age 9 when he learned that his
"sister" was actually is mom and he
was an illegitimate child. By the time
Clapton was 15, he was fascinated with the
blues and playing guitar (a gift for his 13th
birthday) and by age 17, he had dropped out
of Kingston College of Art to focus on a
career in music in London.
Although his first membership in
a band was with The Roosters, Clapton found
more success when he joined up with The
Yardbirds. Clapton played with The
Yardbirds in the mid-60s before moving on and
into the band, John Mayall and The
Bluesbreakers. Clapton's membership
in the group led his nickname
"Slowhand" and soon he became the
major focus of the band. In 1966, Clapton and
2 other band members broke away from the
group to form Cream. The
band broke up in 1968 and Clapton formed Blind
Faith (which also included Steve Winwood). Blind Faith found
success with a tour and LP but broke up in
1969. Throughout the turmoil of joining
groups, forming groups, and leaving groups,
Clapton also found success with helping other
musicians. In 1969, Clapton was asked to play
with John Lennon in a few concert
appearances including Lennon's hit "Cold
Turkey." Clapton also helped out and
toured with Delaney and Bonnie.
The same year, Clapton was awarded the Melody
Maker Pop Poll for Best International
Musician.
 Clapton went solo with the
release of Eric
Clapton and hit the Top 40
with "After Midnight."
Clapton retreated from his solo
stance and formed Derek And The
Dominos.
Clapton's career in the music
had begun to be consumed by a heroin
addiction and Derek And The Dominos
broke up during the year - Clapton remained
relatively out of the public eye.
 Clapton won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for The
Concert For Bangla Desh (with George
Harrison, Ravi Shanker,
Bob
Dylan, Leon Russell,
Ringo Starr, Billy
Preston, and Klaus Voormann).
Clapton kicked his drug habit
and performed a comeback show in London which
resulted in the release of Eric
Clapton's Rainbow Concert.
 Clapton released 461
Ocean Boulevard and hit #1 on the pop
charts with the Bob Marley cover, "I Shot
The Sheriff" and hit the Top 40 with
"Willie And The Hand Jive."
Clapton returned to tour England
for the first time in 5 years.
Clapton appeared in the film
version of Tommy.
 Clapton released There's
One In Every Crowd.
Clapton released another live LP
- E.C.
Was Here.
No
Reason To Cry was released and Clapton hit
the Top 40 with "Hello Old Friend."
 Clapton's commercial success as
a solo artist came into being with the
release of Slowhand.
The LP contained the hits
"Lay Down Sally" and
"Wonderful Tonight" as well as the
classic "Cocaine" and sold over 3
million copies in the U.S.
 Clapton released Backless and hit the Top 10
with "Promises."
By the late 70s, Clapton's
career began to feel the effects of his
drinking.
 # 135
Singles Artist of the Year
Clapton released the live 2-LP, Just
One Night of songs performed live in
Japan in late '79.
 Clapton hit the Top 40 with
"Tulsa Time / Cocaine."
 # 63
Singles Artist of the Year
Eric Clapton (& His Band)
hit the Top 40 with "I
Can't Stand It."
 Clapton released Another
Ticket and hit the Top 10
with "I
Can't Stand It." The release had
originally been rejected by Clapton's label,
Polydor, until a new producer was found and
the recording was redone.
Clapton hit the Top 10 with "I
Can't Stand It."
Clapton collapsed during a
Wisconsin performance from alcohol-related
problems. The medical emergency eventually
led to Clapton's treatment for alcoholism.
 # 95
Singles Artist of the Year
 Clapton released a hits
collection, Time
Pieces - The Best Of Eric Clapton, and Money
And Cigarettes with his new record
label, Warner Brothers.
Clapton hit the Top 40 with
"I've Got A Rock N' Roll
Heart."
 # 107
Singles Artist of the Year
 Clapton released Behind
The Sun with the hits "She's
Waiting," "See What Love Can
Do" and the Top 40 hit "Forever
Man."
 Clapton released August with the hits
"It's In The Way That You Use It"
(from The
Color Of Money) and "Tearing Us
Apart" (with Tina
Turner). Q magazine called
the LP, "...the official start of
Clapton's Career renaissance..."
 Clapton was honored with a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the British
Phonographic Institute.
The video for "It's In The
Way That You Use It" was nominated for a
MTV Video Music
Award for Best Video from a Film.
Clapton could also be heard on
the Lethal Weapon soundtrack.
 Clapton released his first
boxset titled Crossroads which included 73
songs spanning Clapton's solo career and work
with groups. By 1990, the collection became
the first box set to be certified platinum
(and eventually double platinum).
 # 156
Singles Artist of the Year
Clapton was nominated a Grammy
Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("After Midnight").
Clapton could be heard on the Homeboy and Lethal
Weapon 2 soundtracks.
 Clapton released Journeyman and the LP was hailed
as his return to his blues-rock roots. Most
notable tracks on the LP included
"Pretending" and "Bad
Love."
Clapton lost several members of
his road crew and friend, Steve Ray
Vaughan, in a helicopter crash.
Clapton won a Billboard Music
Award for Top Album Rock Artist.
Clapton won a Grammy
Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male
("Bad Love").
 Clapton released another live
LP, 24
Nights of live performances from
London's Royal Albert Hall from '90 and '91.
Tragedy struck Clapton when his
4-year old son was killed after falling out a
high-rise window.
 # 16
Singles Artist of the Year
Clapton contributed music to the
soundtracks of Rush ("Tears In Heaven") and Lethal
Weapon 3 (including the collaboration
with Sting, "It's Probably
Me").
Clapton was inducted into the Rock
& Roll Hall of Fame as part of the group The
Yardbirds.
Clapton hit the Top 40 with
"Tears In Heaven."
Clapton was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best
Rock Performance, Solo ("24
Hours").
Clapton hit the Top 10 with "Tears In Heaven."
Clapton topped the Billboard Top
Singles Sales chart for 3 weeks with "Tears In Heaven."
Clapton topped the Billboard
Adult Contemporary chart for 3 weeks with
"Tears In Heaven."
 Clapton released Unplugged (from a March
appearance). Clapton hit the Top 10 with his
unplugged version of "Layla." The LP went on
to win several Grammy Awards and became his
biggest-selling LP - selling over 10 million
copies in the U.S.
The video for "Tears In Heaven" won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Male Video and was also nominated
for Best Video from a Film and Best Cinematography.
Clapton hit the Top 40 with the
unplugged version of "Layla."
Clapton hit the Top 10 with the unplugged
version of "Layla."
 # 129
Singles Artist of the Year
Clapton was
nominated for an American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.
Clapton was inducted into the Rock
& Roll Hall of Fame as part of the group Cream.
 Clapton won 6 Grammy
Awards for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male,
and Song of the Year (songwriter with Will
Jennings) ("Tears In Heaven"), Album of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance -
Male (Unplugged), and Best Rock Song (songwriter with Jim
Gordon) ("Layla") - and was also
nominated for Best Song Written for a
Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual
Media ("Tears In Heaven"
with Will Jennings and "It's Probably
Me" with Michael Kamen and Sting), and
Best Intrumental Composition Written for a
Motion Picture or for Television (Rush
soundtrack). Critics of the Grammy Awards
questioned the reasoning behind a 20-year old
song such as "Layla" winning an
award. The song had been written in the 70s
as a testament to Clapton's involvement with George
Harrison's wife, Patti, (who Clapton
eventually married and divorced). The
co-writer of "Layla" was in prison at
the time of the awards.
Unplugged topped the Billboard
200 Pop Albums chart for 3 weeks.
Clapton won 2 World Music Awards
for Best-Selling British Artist of the Year
and World's Best-Selling Rock Artist of the
Year.
Clapton won an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.
Clapton was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("My Back Pages" with
Bob
Dylan, Roger McGuinn,
Tom
Petty, Neil Young, George
Harrison).
 Clapton released From
The Cradle, a collection of blues
standards. Rolling Stone called the
LP, "...the plugged-in, all-blues album
that old school Clapton freaks have been
moaning and groaning for..."
From
The Cradle topped the Billboard Top Blues
Albums chart for 10 weeks.
From
The Cradle topped the Billboard Pop Albums
chart for a week.
 Clapton won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional
Blues Album (From
The Cradle) and was nominated for Album of the Year.
Clapton released The
Cream Of Eric Clapton which included tracks
dating back from the late 60s into the 80s.
Clapton topped the UK Singles
chart with Cher, Chrissie
Hynde, and Neneh Cherry
for a week with "Love Can Build A
Bridge."
 # 40
Singles Artist of the Year
 Clapton released another box-set
with Crossroads
2: Live In The Seventies consisting of
unreleased live performances from the 70s and
4 previously unreleased studio tracks.
Clapton hit the Top 40 with
"Change The World" - a
collaboration with Babyface from the Phenomenon soundtrack.
Clapton hit the Top 10 with "Change The World."
 Clapton could also be heard on
the LP, Tribute
To Stevie Ray Vaughan with "Ain't
Gone'N Give Up On Your Love" and
"Tick Tock."
Clapton topped the Billboard Hot
Adult Contemporary Singles & Tracks chart
for 13 weeks with "Change The World."
Clapton's video for "Change The World " was nominated
for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Cinematography.
Rock
'N Roll Hall Of Fame's 500
Songs That Shaped Rock And Roll includes "After
Midnight."
Clapton won an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.
Clapton won 4 more Grammy
Awards for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male,
and Song of the Year (songwriter) ("Change The World") and Best Rock Instrumental
Performance ("SRV Shuffle" with Jimmie
Vaughan, Robert Cray,
B.B.
King, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, and Art
Neville) and was nominated for Best
Rock Vocal Performance, Male ("Ain't
Gone 'N Give Up On Your Love")
 # 74
Singles Artist of the Year
Clapton was nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.
Clapton made a rare television
appearance on CNN's Larry King Live. On his LP Pilgrim, Clapton said:
"It is autobiographical... and I see
myself as kind of being like a lone guy on a
quest."
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