Clapton, Eric Patrick

Clapton, Eric Patrick, 1945–, British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. Ripley, Surrey, England. A seminal figure in rock music, he is noted especially for his virtuoso guitar playing, whose style is based on American blues as played by “T-Bone” Walker, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, and particularly Robert Johnson. Clapton was influential in the development of rock music in the 1960s, playing with the Yardbirds (1963–65), John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1965–66), Cream (1966–68), Blind Faith (1969), and Derek and the Dominos (1970–71). His first solo recording, Eric Clapton, featuring the hit “After Midnight,” was released in 1970. In seclusion from 1971 while battling heroin addiction, he resurfaced in 1974 with 461 Oceanside Boulevard, which included a version of Bob Marley's “I Shot the Sheriff.” In the 1990s he achieved a career comeback with the all-acoustic Unplugged (1992) and the traditional blues of From the Cradle (1994). The death of his son, Conor, in 1991, prompted the song “Tears in Heaven.”

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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