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In Ripley, Surrey, England, Patricia Clapton gave birth to Eric Patrick Clapton, the world's best and most successful rock and roll guitarist of all time. As she was too young to raise a child, Eric's grandmother raised him.
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For this thirteenth birthday, Clapton asked for a guitar and that's what he got. It was a very mediocre steel-string acoustic, and because there was not an ease of play on the steel strings, he lost interest quickly. Although, two years later, he began to play consistently.
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Eric left for Kingston College of Art but was dismissed because he was more focused on guitar than his assignments. Eric's guitar playing was so advanced that at 16 he was already getting noticed.
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After being dismissed from school, he began wandering Kingston and Richmond, he began doing little pub gigs around Surrey with blues enthusiast David Brock. A year later, he joined his first band, an R&B group, The Roosters, whom he stayed with until August 1963.
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In October of 1963, Clapton joined the blues-influenced rock and roll band The Yardbirds and stayed with them until March 1965, where he joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. They had their first big hit "For Your Love" in March 1965.
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Eric Clapton forms the British supergroup Cream, with himself as singer and guitarist, Jack Bruce as bassist and singer, and drummer Ginger Baker.
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Eric Clapton is asked to be in a film (and accepts the offer) by The Rolling Stones featuring John Lennon and The Who.
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Soon after Cream's breakup, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker collaborate with Steve Winwood and Ric Grech to form yet another supergroup, Blind Faith.
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John Lennon performs alongside Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman, Alan White and Yoko. Later that year, Blind Faith releases their only album with huge success, topping U.S. and U.K. charts for weeks.
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Clapton releases his solo debut album "Eric Clapton", including After Midnight, Blues Power, and Let It Rain; this peaked at #13, and immediately he began recording with his new band Derek and the Dominoes. They recorded their album "Layla... and Other Assorted Love Songs" in ten days and had with it a huge success.
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After a reclusive period of heroin addiction, he is reintroduced to the public's eye with his first to hit #1: the single "I Shot The Sheriff", and the entire album 461 Ocean Boulevard.
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Clapton most successful album of the seventies, Slowhand, was released, with "Lay Down Sally" hitting #3 and "Wonderful Tonight" hitting #16, and an Eric Clapton classic, "Cocaine", being released.
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A CD Compilation of Eric Clapton's work with all of his bands, even unreleased songs, is released with seventy-two songs and sold over two million copies.
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Clapton records an all-acoustic set of songs that is taped for the MTV Series Unplugged; this album goes on to win the Album of the Year Grammy. A year later, "MTV Unplugged With Eric Clapton" is nominated for three more Grammy Awards.
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Clapton records his first all-blues album "From the Cradle". This album goes on to win a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album.
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B.B. King and Eric Clapton collaborate to record and release "Riding With The King".
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Eric Clapton is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Clapton performs at his first Crossroads Guitar Festival at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
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Eric Clapton releases his most recent album, Clapton.
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Clapton appears and performs at the Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Gardens.
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For the second time, Clapton performs at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2013 at Madison Square Gardens.
