Eric Clapton

Latest Updates

A black and white action shot of John Mayall onstage playing electric guitar in 1991

“He taught me that it was OK to play the music you wanted to play. He was my mentor and a surrogate father, too”: Why John Mayall was the godfather of British blues guitar

By Glenn Kimpton published

Best known for his Bluesbreakers band, which launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, Mayall was a gifted pianist, guitarist and harmonica player

Eric Clapton, George Terry and George Harrison

“I had a little too much Jack Daniels and went to sleep. Early the next morning, I woke up to Eric and George playing ukuleles at the foot of my bed”: Session pro George Terry recalls the first time he met a Beatle

By Matt Owen published

Terry was Clapton's guitarist in the 1970s, and through Slowhand he was able to meet a particularly famous face

Ritchie Blackmore in 1968, and Eric Clapton in 1970, both playing live on stage

“We got a bang on the door and it was Eric's security. That was embarrassing – he might have thought it was me making this racket”: That time Ritchie Blackmore disturbed Eric Clapton by cranking Marshalls in a hotel at 3am

By Matt Owen published

Blackmore decided to protest some noisy hotel maintenance with some equally noisy guitar antics. Unfortunately, Slowhand was in the room next door…

Eric Clapton plays a solo on a blue Strat as Joe Bonamassa looks on

“The playing is fiery, the lines are emotionally powerful and the melodic ideas and phrasing are perfect”: Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to his favorite guitar player of all time

By Joe Bonamassa published

JoBo digs out a vintage Beano Burst lookalike to break down the licks of Eric Clapton during his “Gibson years”

Eric Clapton performs on stage with singer Yvonne Elliman and guitarist George Terry at Crystal Palace Garden Party 31st July 1976

“Someone dosed Eric Clapton with LSD, and I had to take over”: George Terry says he had to step up during Clapton's bad nights on the road in the ’70s – but it wasn’t always the guitar hero’s fault

By Matt Parker published

The session pro and former Clapton sideman has been reflecting on life on tour and in the studio with the guitar icon in the 1970s

Jack Bruce performing live on stage the the London Guitar Festival on June 4, 2011.

“Eric was a bit taken aback”: When Jack Bruce radically reworked Cream hits to Eric Clapton’s surprise – and that time Marvin Gaye asked him to join his band

By Chris Jisi published

Some people believe rock ’n’ roll should never leave the cozy three-chord confines of the garage – and then there’s Jack Bruce

John Mayall playing guitar onstage at Greenwich Village's Bottom Line nightclub, New York on January 23, 1979

“Peter Green is tasked with filling the shoes of Clapton, the man referred to as God”: Tracking the phenomenal guitar lineage of John Mayall in 12 essential releases

By Andy Aledort published

We trace the evolution of the six-string linchpin behind the British blues rock boom of the 1960s

Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Robbie Robertson performing with The Band at Wembley, London, 14th September 1974

“It promises to be a night of electrifying performances”: Star-studded Robbie Robertson tribute show announced, featuring Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams

By Janelle Borg published

The star-studded event is taking place on October 17 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles

Eric Clapton and John Mayall both performing on stage in the late 1960s

“Thank you for rescuing me when I decided that I was going to quit music”: Eric Clapton pays emotional tribute to his Bluesbreaker bandmate and blues mentor John Mayall

By Matt Owen published

Clapton and Mayall joined forces in the 1960s to record one of British blues' most iconic records, which further established Slowhand as an up-and-coming blues great

Duane Allman and Eric Clapton playing guitars in the studio

“We set up Eric and Duane in the studio, so they were face-to-face about two feet apart. They could literally touch each other’s guitars if they wanted to”: The Albert Brothers on recording Hendrix, Clapton, the Allman Brothers – and that Layla session

By Andrew Daly published

Ron and Howard’s innovative recording techniques became synonymous with the ’70s – but the humble siblings say they were just lucky to get to work with the best

Pictures of Richie Sambora and Eric Clapton performing live in 1995

“Eric called and said, ‘Buddy Guy, George Harrison and I are playing tonight. You’re going to come and jam’”: Richie Sambora recalls receiving Eric Clapton’s spontaneous invite to a star-studded jam session

By Matt Owen published

Sambora once asked Slowhand to feature on one of his singles, and it wasn't long before the pair were trading licks at the Roxy with a couple of other blues greats

Ted Nugent (L) and Jason Hartless perform during his Adios Mofo 2023 Tour at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre on August 11, 2023 in Sterling Heights, Michigan

“Beck, Clapton and Page are okay. But they’re no better than Jim McCarty from Cactus and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels”: Ted Nugent weighs in on top guitarist lists and the unsung heroes who deserve more recognition

By Janelle Borg published

Ted Nugent names the guitarists he thinks deserve to be championed as much as Beck, Clapton and Page

Ritchie Blackmore

“I bought one of Eric Clapton’s old Strats for £60. That was my initiation into playing a Strat”: How Ritchie Blackmore ended up buying his first-ever Fender Stratocaster from Eric Clapton

By Matt Owen published

Blackmore switched up his ES-335 for a Strat after he was given the chance to buy one of Clapton's own examples – and the rest was history

Cream In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall, London, Britain - 03 May 2005, Cream - Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker And Eric Clapton

“After one of the shows, Ginger said, ‘You are a great bass player after all.’ I couldn’t believe it – he’d never once said that in all the years”: In 2005, Jack Bruce reunited with Cream after 36 years – and realized how much his bass playing had changed

By Chris Jisi published

When faced once again with the bass role in the ultimate power trio alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce hired a rehearsal room in London and brought in “every bass amp in existence”

Eric Clapton's 1974 Martin 000-28 Wonderful Tonight acoustic guitar

“It's the one he took around with him – the one he went back to the hotel with after gigs”: Up close with the 1974 Martin that Eric Clapton used to write Wonderful Tonight

By Jamie Dickson published

Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight is one of the great love songs of our time. So when the guitar he wrote it on, a 1974 Martin 000-28, came up for auction in London, we didn’t need a second invitation to go and take a closer look

Left-Photo of Eric CLAPTON, performing live onstage, playing Martin acoustic guitar; Right- Eric Clapton's 1977 Juan Alvares acoustic

“The last gig of the tour was in Barcelona. We were there for a couple of days and Eric said he wanted to get a Spanish guitar”: The acoustic Eric Clapton used to write Tears in Heaven just sold for over $100,000

By Janelle Borg published

Originally owned by John Porter, Clapton begged him to borrow his 1977 Juan Alvares acoustic to use as his go-to songwriting guitar

Collection of electric guitars and acoustic guitars

The 15 most expensive guitars of all time

By Jenna Scaramanga last updated

Fenders owned by Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, Martins belonging to Kurt Cobain and David Gilmour, and one independently made axe headline the list of most profitable guitars sold at auction

Left-Eric Clapton performs onstage during Day 2 of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival at Crypto.com Arena on September 24, 2023 in Los Angeles, California; Right- Mk.gee performs on the Twin Peaks Stage during day 2 of the 2021 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival

“He has found things to do on the guitar that are like nobody else. It was the same when I first saw Prince”: Eric Clapton picks an unlikely contender as his favorite contemporary guitarist

By Janelle Borg published

The blues veteran has a deep admiration for one of modern guitar's premier lo-fi players

L-English musician Eric Clapton performing live on stage with his signature Martin 000-28EC acoustic guitar at the O2 Arena; Eric Clapton's 1995 Martin 000-28EC signature prototype

Eric Clapton called it “the best-sounding acoustic guitar I’ve ever played” – now his personal Martin signature acoustic prototype is up for sale

By Janelle Borg published

One of only four acoustic guitar prototypes discovered so far, this Clapton-used model is expected to fetch $50,000 at auction

Ian Bairnson's Gibson Les Paul, as played on Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights

“Ian was always ready to play a stylistically perfect solo for every track he was involved with”: The Les Paul behind the iconic guitar solo on Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights is now up for auction

By Janelle Borg published

The late Ian Bairnson’s guitar was used across the first four Kate Bush albums, as well as classic records from the Alan Parsons Project and countless sessions