Music Milestones
If I had to pick one date that was the most significant in Eric Clapton's music career, it would have to be March 30, 1945, the day he was born. After that, everything else was just building on that beginning. His personal life has often affected his professional life, and vice versa.
He got his first guitar the day he became a teenager. From there, the rest is ... well, history.
1945 - Born March 30 in Surrey, England
1958 - Received his first guitar as a birthday present wen he turned 13
1961 - Attends art school in London but leaves when it's obvious he's much more interested music than he is in art
1962 - Begins playing blues music on street corners and at pubs in the Surrey area
1963 - Joins R&B band, The Roosters at age 17
1963 - Joined The Yardbirds, staying for two years until the band began shifting from blues rock to pop
1965 - Left Yardbirds and joined John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1966 - Left Bluesbreakers to form Cream with bass guitarist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker
1967 - First U.S. performance, with Cream, in New York, where the band also recorded Disraeli Gears
1968 - Cream disbands, Clapton strikes up a friendship with George Harrison, and plays on several of Harrison's solo albums
1969 - Clapton and Baker from Cream, Steve Winwood from Traffic and Ric Grech from Family form Blind Faith, which lasted just over six months
1969 - Begins touring and performing with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends
1970 - Clapton and three other "Friends" leave to form Derek and the Dominos and record their only album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. He also releases his first solo album, Eric Clapton.
1971 - After Dominos dissolve, Clapton drops off the radar to deal with drug and alcohol addition. He surfaces long enough for Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, where he passes out on stage during his performance.
1974 - After beating his heroin addiction, he releases his second solo album, 461 Ocean Boulevard.
1975-1978 - Releases four more solo albums and tours extensively
1982 - Undergoes treatment for alcohol addiction
1981-1989 - Releases five more solo albums, tours and records with numerous other artists including Roger Waters, Phil Collins, George Harrison, and Tina Turner
1990 - While touring with Clapton, guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn is killed in a helicopter crash while travelling between concert.
1991 - Clapton's son, Conor (age 4) dies in a fall from a high rise apartment window
1994-1998 - Just two solo albums are released in the '90s, From the Cradle in 1994 and Pilgrim in 1998.
1998 - Opens a substance abuse rehab facility, Crossroads Center, on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
2004 - Stages the first Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit Crossroads Center. Three more Festivals are staged, in 2007, 2010 and 2013.
2000-now: Between 2000 and 2013, Clapton released eight more albums, including collaborations with B.B. King and JJ Cale. In turn, he frequently performed on albums recorded by other artists He also continued a longstanding willingness to perform in benefit concerts for a variety of causes.
It could be argued that this is part of his musical history due to the number of songs he wrote during and after a series of highly publicized romances. The same could be said of many of the friendships he developed over the years with other artists.
Clapton and George Harrison had a close personal and professional association. In 1979, Clapton married Patti Boyd, who had been Harrison's first wife. In 1984, while still married to Boyd, he had an affair (and a daughter) with recording studio manager, Yvonne Kelly. During the 1990s he dated another well known singer-songwriter-guitarist, Sheryl Crow. In 1998 he met Melia McEnery at a post-concert party. They married in 2001.
He got his first guitar the day he became a teenager. From there, the rest is ... well, history.
In the beginning
1945 - Born March 30 in Surrey, England
1958 - Received his first guitar as a birthday present wen he turned 13
1961 - Attends art school in London but leaves when it's obvious he's much more interested music than he is in art
1962 - Begins playing blues music on street corners and at pubs in the Surrey area
1963 - Joins R&B band, The Roosters at age 17
Turning points
1963 - Joined The Yardbirds, staying for two years until the band began shifting from blues rock to pop
1965 - Left Yardbirds and joined John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1966 - Left Bluesbreakers to form Cream with bass guitarist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker
1967 - First U.S. performance, with Cream, in New York, where the band also recorded Disraeli Gears
1968 - Cream disbands, Clapton strikes up a friendship with George Harrison, and plays on several of Harrison's solo albums
Next phase
1969 - Clapton and Baker from Cream, Steve Winwood from Traffic and Ric Grech from Family form Blind Faith, which lasted just over six months
1969 - Begins touring and performing with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends
1970 - Clapton and three other "Friends" leave to form Derek and the Dominos and record their only album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. He also releases his first solo album, Eric Clapton.
1971 - After Dominos dissolve, Clapton drops off the radar to deal with drug and alcohol addition. He surfaces long enough for Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, where he passes out on stage during his performance.
1974 - After beating his heroin addiction, he releases his second solo album, 461 Ocean Boulevard.
1975-1978 - Releases four more solo albums and tours extensively
Tragedies and comebacks
1982 - Undergoes treatment for alcohol addiction
1981-1989 - Releases five more solo albums, tours and records with numerous other artists including Roger Waters, Phil Collins, George Harrison, and Tina Turner
1990 - While touring with Clapton, guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn is killed in a helicopter crash while travelling between concert.
1991 - Clapton's son, Conor (age 4) dies in a fall from a high rise apartment window
1994-1998 - Just two solo albums are released in the '90s, From the Cradle in 1994 and Pilgrim in 1998.
1998 - Opens a substance abuse rehab facility, Crossroads Center, on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
2004 - Stages the first Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit Crossroads Center. Three more Festivals are staged, in 2007, 2010 and 2013.
2000-now: Between 2000 and 2013, Clapton released eight more albums, including collaborations with B.B. King and JJ Cale. In turn, he frequently performed on albums recorded by other artists He also continued a longstanding willingness to perform in benefit concerts for a variety of causes.
Art imitates life, life imitates art
It could be argued that this is part of his musical history due to the number of songs he wrote during and after a series of highly publicized romances. The same could be said of many of the friendships he developed over the years with other artists.
Clapton and George Harrison had a close personal and professional association. In 1979, Clapton married Patti Boyd, who had been Harrison's first wife. In 1984, while still married to Boyd, he had an affair (and a daughter) with recording studio manager, Yvonne Kelly. During the 1990s he dated another well known singer-songwriter-guitarist, Sheryl Crow. In 1998 he met Melia McEnery at a post-concert party. They married in 2001.
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