Born: March 30, 1945
City and Country of Origin: Surrey, England
Music Training: self taught
Awards: Grammy for Album of the Year, acoustic arrangement of Layla recorded January 16, 1992; Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance "My Father's Eyes," March 10, 1998; Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on March 6, 2000;
Top Recordings: "I Shot the Sheriff," "Tears in Heaven," "Lay Down Sally," "Layla"
Eric Clapton Biography: Eric was the illegitimate son of 16 year old of Patricia Molly Clapton and Walter Frye,r a Canadian soldier stationed in England, who returned to his wife in Canada before Eric was born. He was raised by his grandparents whose name was Clapp. He only learned the details of his true lineage when his mother and his half brother came by for a visit. This event left young Eric emotinally scarred. He attended Kingston College of Art, but did not exhibit enough interest and was expelled. The reason for his failure was his interests had turned to music, particularly the guitar and blues. His first band was a group called the Roosters. In 1963 he was recruited into the Yardbirds. It was at this time that he recorded his first albums and earned the nickname Slowhand. When the Yardbirds started to become too commercial with their release of "For Your Love" he left the band to concentrate on the blues. In 1965 he joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. In 1966 he teamed up with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to form Cream. It was at about this time that he gained the reputation as rock's premier guitarist. The egos of the band members led to its demise in 1968. After a short stint with Delaney & Bonnie he formed Derek and the Dominos in 1970. It was with this group that he recorded that landmark Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. In spite of its historical place in rock history botht he single and album were commercial failures. After this he fell into a fit of depression and drug use for 3 years. To mark his recovery he launched his solo career with the album Eric Clapton.

Music by the Decade:

Sounds of the Fifties

Sounds of the Sixties

Sounds of the Seventies

Sounds of the Eighties

Sounds of the Nineties