Eric Clapton

Like many young English kids in the 1950's Eric Clapton grew to appreciate what he knew of American blues music. After leaving school at 17, he played in numerous small blues bands. In 1965 he joined the seminal blues-rock band the Yardbirds. After a short time, Clapton left the Yardbirds to make room for Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, the other two British superstars that would rise out of the British blues scene. John Mayall's Bluesbreakers provided his next venue, as it did numerous other young players, including Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Peter Green who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac. Clapton left Mayall in 1966 to form Cream.
Cream was hugely influential both artistically and in the marketplace. They broke up after only three albums, with the fourth in the can yet in that time Cream carved out critical new territory fusing an Anglicized blues with over-the-top acid rock. Clapton was a member of the British rock elite, swapping guest solos with George Harrison on While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Badge respectively. Cream dissolved in 1968, reportedly caused by gnashing egos, after which Clapton joined forces with Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker for a one-off Blind Faith, one of the first times the ubiquitous term "super-group" was warranted.
1970 saw the first wholesale solo project from Clapton and the first hit single After Midnight. The band on the record was essentially Delaney and Bonnie (and friends). Forming Derek and the Dominos in 1970, Clapton poured his heart and soul into the creation of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, based in greatest part on his tumultuous relationship with George Harrison's wife Patti.
The next two years found Clapton descending into heroin addiction and emerging intact, though some say less inspired to perform a live concert at Royal Albert Hall in early 1973. The following year Clapton released 461 Ocean Boulevard featuring his reworking of the Wailers' classic "I Shot the Sheriff". Subsequent years brought a mix of results most notably Slowhand in 1977 with Cocaine, Lay Down Sally and Wonderful Tonight; and Another Ticket, with I Can't Stand It. The release of the Crossroads box set in April of 1988 became a major commercial success as well as enlivening Clapton's stature in the public eye.
The 1990's brought even greater challenges for Clapton. The death of Stevie Ray Vaughn and two others, all close friends of Clapton's left him stunned. On March 20, 1991 Clapton's four-year-old son fell forty stories to his death. The song "Tears In Heaven," recorded for the movie Rush later that year proved to be a massive hit single. A year after his son's death, Clapton recorded a live concert for MTV Unplugged that yielded his strongest selling album to date, based in large part on the live single of "Tears In Heaven."
Two years later, Clapton returned with a blues album, From the Cradle, which became one of his most successful albums, both commercially and critically. In early 1997, Clapton, billing himself by the pseudonym "X-Sample," collaborated with keyboardist/producer Simon Climie as the ambient new age and trip-hop duo T.D.F. The duo released Retail Therapy in early 1997.
Clapton retained Climie as his collaborator for Pilgrim, his first album of new material since 1989's Journeyman. The album debuted at number four and stayed in the Top Ten for several weeks on the success of the single "My Father's Eyes." In 2000, Clapton teamed up with old friend B.B. King on Riding with the King, a set of blues standards and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing, entitled Reptile, followed in early 2001. Three years later, Clapton issued Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honoring the Mississippi-born bluesman Robert Johnson. 2005's Back Home, Clapton's 14th album of original material, reflected his ease with fatherhood. The Road to Escondido from 2006 paired him with the man behind "Cocaine" and "After Midnight," J.J. Cale. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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