Clapton: The Autobiography »

Eric Clapton is married to Melia McEnery and is the father of four daughters. He lives outside London.

Eric Clapton is far more than a rock star. Like Dylan and McCartney he is an icon and a living legend. He has sold tens of millions of records, played sell-out concerts all over the world and been central to the significant musical developments of his era. His guitar playing has seen him hailed as 'God'. Tracks such as Layla, Sunshine Of Your Love,Wonderful Tonight and Tears In Heaven have become anthems for generations of music fans. Now for the first time, Eric tells the story of his personal and professional journeys in this pungent, witty and painfully honest autobiography.

Eric was born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents. He never knew his father and until the age of nine believed his absentee mother to be his sister. In his teens his solace was the guitar and he soon became a cult hero in the club circuits of Britain. With the foundation of the world's first super group Cream in 1966 he became a world superstar.

But the rock star lifestyle has had a da...

The Barnes & Noble Review

"Clapton Is God," wrote the London graffiti artists in the '60s; if the message wasn't strictly accurate, it was more concise than "Eric Clapton is the leading innovator of blues-based lead guitar in rock 'n' roll." In Clapton: The Autobiography, our guitar-hero narrator confesses to some youthful ambivalence about this praise, before allowing that he thought it was "really quite nice."

Growing Up     3
The Yardbirds     27
John Mayall     55
Cream     71
Blind Faith     97
Derek and the Dominds     115
Lost Years     133
461 Ocean Boulevard     145
El and Nell     159
The End of the Road     183
Hazelden: Picking up the Pieces     197
Relapse     211
Conor     229
The Aftermath     247
Crossroads     261
Melia     275
A Family Man     289
A Year on the Road     305
Epilogue     323
Acknowledgments     329
Inder     331
Photo Credits     343