Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton was born in Britain in 1945. He began his performing career in the 1960s, coming to prominence as a guitarist and singer for The Yardbirds and the supergroup Cream. Clapton is the composer of such rock standards as "White Room" and "Crossroads." Clapton earned the nickname "Slowhand" for the way his fingers could nimbly play fast licks while seemingly moving in slow motion, and he was often called a "guitar god." He embarked on a solo career in the 1970s and composed such hits as "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight." He was counted among what were known as the "three greatest guitarists in the world," along with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.
Entering the 1990s, Clapton continued to reign at the top of the music world by creating such hits as "Tears in Heaven," "Change the World," and "Over the Rainbow." Clapton has been at the forefront of popular music for some 40 years, and he has won 16 Grammies to date and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (as a member of The Yardbirds, as a member of Cream, and as a solo artist). Between 1974 and 2003, Clapton came to Japan to perform 16 times, drawing a total of 200,000 fans during a tour of the country in 2003. At the end of 2003 Clapton received the Order of the British Empire for the second time. His upcoming album, Me and Mr. Johnson, a tribute to the legendary blues innovator Robert Johnson, is scheduled for release on March 24, 2004. Clapton plans to release an album of all-new material in the fall of 2004, including the song "Say What You Will." In addition to his musical activities, Clapton established a medical center for patients recovering from alcohol and drugs on the Carribean island of Antigua in 1998.
