Eric Clapton has been around the block a few times. The 70-year-old rock and blues guitarist responsible for “Layla” may not be as busy as he once was, but he’s still going strong. However, despite the fact that Clapton has spent a considerable amount of time in the spotlight and under the scrutiny of the public eye, there are still some things that many people don’t know. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about Eric Clapton. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: He Holds a Special Rock and Roll Record. Clapton is the only artist in the world to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a record three times. He was inducted for the first time in 1992, then again in 1993, and finally in 2000.
Number Fourteen: He Was Almost Inducted Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a Fourth Time. Clapton would have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a record-breaking fourth time if he had joined The Band. Clapton was interested in joining The Band around their Music from Big Pink era, but it didn’t pan out.
Number Thirteen: He Almost Retired When He Left The Yardbirds. Clapton and The Yardbirds were at odds when they wanted to make a hit, and Clapton wanted nothing to do with it. Clapton was only 18, and already he was prepared to leave the music industry.
Number Twelve: His First “Serious” Guitar Was a Gibson ES-335. Clapton bought a red Gibson ES-335 in 1965 when he was in The Yardbirds. Clapton called it “the instrument of [his] dreams,” and he loved that the ES-335 was both a rock guitar and a blues guitar.
Number Eleven: He Got Connected to The Bluesbreakers Through Marc Bolan’s Future Wife. June Child, the future wife of Marc Bolan and a good friend of Clapton’s at the time, was the one who introduced Clapton to The Bluesbreakers. Child gave John Mayall the phone number of one of Clapton’s former bandmates, Mayall called Clapton, and the rest is history.
Number Ten: Clapton Was Scared of Jim Gordon. When Clapton was in Derek and the Dominos, he became scared of Jim Gordon, and their rapport had completely deteriorated by the end of the band’s career.
Number Nine: He Collects Ferraris. Clapton has loved race cars since he was just a child, and he thinks that the sound of a 12-cylinder “is the most magical thing in the world.”