Photo: Raph_PH / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What strikes me most about Eric Clapton is not the rankings or the nickname about being a guitar god, but his stubborn fidelity to the blues across six decades. He could have coasted on pure virtuosity, yet his best playing comes from emotional honesty rather than speed, with phrasing that ordinary listeners feel in their chest. I admire how he survived addiction and personal tragedy and kept translating pain into music. He is a flawed, complicated figure, but as a guitarist who made the instrument speak plainly about grief and longing, he remains the standard everyone else gets measured against.
Overview
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 30 March 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time".
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Eric Clapton
- Name (Japanese)
- エリック・クラプトン
- Reading
- えりっく・くらぷとん
- Born
- March 30, 1945 (age 81)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Rooster
- Origin
- Ripley, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- guitarist / singer-songwriter / composer / jazz musician / singer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Kingston University
Awards & achievements
- 2000 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 2004 Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- 2006 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- Silver Clef Award
- 2017 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Guitarist — see all → · Singer-songwriter — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.