Solo or band member, Eric Clapton wrote and produced life changing, industry changing music. His journey was tumultuous from the start to the present.

Not only did 1945 bring about the end of WWII but also the beginning of a legend. Clapton was born in England to a 16 year old English woman and a 24 year old Canadian soldier that was stationed there; he didn’t know this, though, because his grandparents raised him as their own, leaving him to think that his mother was actually his sister. When he finally realized the truth about his parentage, he lost all motivation; he failed the secondary school entrance exams and enrolled in art school at the age of 13. Around this time, Rock N’ Roll was making a big name for itself in the English music scene, and so, Eric asked for a guitar, but he only really started playing it at the age of 16 after being accepted into the Kingston College of Art (also the location of his discovery of booze). A year later, he was expelled. After trying out a few bands, he made a name for himself in the Yardbirds, but couldn’t handle the pop sound they were producing and left (only to be replaced by two of the other most iconic guitarists in rock history, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck). He then went on to join The Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton producing some of the most known albums in blues: Ramblin’ on My Mind and What’d I Say; this was about the time that he gained the nickname “God.” He settled in for, in my opinion, the best songs of his career with the band Cream. Songs like “Crossroads,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” and “White Room” characterized his time with Cream. He went on to join Blind Faith and came out with two of my favorite of his songs “Layla” and “Presence of the Lord.” Finally, he kicked his heroin addiction (replacing it with alcohol) and released 461 Ocean Boulevard; my favorite song from that album is “Please Be With Me.” Two of my all time favorite songs came out a big later in his career: a cover of “Cocaine” (originally by J.J. Cale) and “Wonderful Tonight.” In ’79, he married Pattie Boyd (Beatles’ guitarist George Harrison’s ex-wife), but the marriage ended 10 years later after his unfaithfulness created two children with two separate women. Tragedy struck when Clapton’s son Conor, who he had with Lory Del Santo, fell 49-stories out the window of his mother’s apartment. This loss hit him hard and led to probably my favorite of his songs, “Tears in Heaven.” He sobered up for the first time in his life and founded the drug and alcohol rehab center called the Crossroads Centre.

As you may be able to tell, I can’t even attempt to choose a favorite. He is a classic and my father’s favorite artist making him the soundtrack of my childhood. He had a wild life and produced some pretty fantastic music in it. For more information, watch his documentary Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars.