Eric Clapton

He married Patty Boyd in 1979. During their married life, he developed a romantic relationship with Yvonne Kelly with whom he had a daughter, Ruth. He did not disclose about the birth of Ruth till 1991.

Eric and Boyd divorced in 1988, due to his alcoholism and his relationship with Italian model Lory Del Santo. With Santo, he had a son, Conor. He was later involved in a number of relationships.

In 2001, his daughter Julie Rose was born. Julie’s mother is Melia McEnery whom he married at a church in Surrey, in 2002. They have two more daughters, Ella Mae and Sophie.

Born in Surrey, England, Eric Patrick Clapton was the son of Patricia Molly Clapton, a 16-year-old unmarried girl and Edward Walter Fryer, a Canadian soldier who served during the World War II.

After his birth, when his father returned to his wife in Canada, Eric was raised by Patricia’s parents. Though they never adopted him legally, yet they acted as his legal guardian till 1963.

He received his early education from Hollyfield School in Surbiton. Later, he attended the Kingston College of Art. Unfortunately, the school authority dismissed him for his negligence towards art. From this time, he developed an interest towards blues.

In the early period of 1963, he joined The Roosters, a band. But in August 1963, when the band broke up, he started performing as part of Casey Jones & The Engineers.

His association with The Yardbirds started in October 1963. In the next year, he performed for this band at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Later, he recorded his single ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’ with this band.

The band received huge success after the release of ‘For Your Love’, a single. Though he played guitar during the performance of this song, he was against using commercial sound in this score.

After leaving The Yardbirds in 1965, he joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. His performance with this band brought him recognition as a guitarist. At that time, he visited Greece for a short period with The Glands, a band.

After his return, he recorded ‘Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton’, an album with the Bluesbreakers. In 1966, he also performed as part of the Powerhouse, a British blues studio super group.

He released his album ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs’ in November 1970. Due to the album’s huge popularity, it achieved 16th position on Billboard’s Pop Album chart.