“I couldn’t bear the idea that, as he experienced enough of life to form a picture of me, it would be a picture of the man I was then.” “I really did it for Conor because I thought, no matter what kind of human being I was, I couldn’t stand being around him like that,” Clapton writes in his 2007 memoir Clapton: The Autobiography. It was Conor’s 1986 birth that provided Clapton the impetus to get clean and stay that way. By the late 70s, the "Cocaine" singer had already kicked his heroin habit but was heavily consuming other drugs – including cocaine – and alcohol. The musician credits Conor for helping him get – and stay – soberĬlapton described his bond with Conor as the closest relationship he had up to that point in his life, and he credits his son as being one of the main reasons he became and remains sober. Photo: Georges DeKeerle/Sygma via Getty Images Lory del Santo and Eric Clapton attend the funeral of their son, Conor, in Ripley, England on March 28, 1991. “And I still feel like that.” Conor’s funeral was held two days prior to the performer’s 46 birthday. “I felt like I had walked into someone else’s life,” Clapton told Lawley in measured tones. Upon entering the apartment, then filled with emergency service responders, Clapton recalls feeling like the scene had nothing to do with him. In a state of disbelief, the "Layla" singer remembers rushing from his hotel to the apartment block where he “saw ambulances and fire engines and paramedic vehicles” outside. And I could not let myself believe it.”Ĭlapton says he “went cold” and “shut down right away” after hearing the news. Lory was on the other end of the phone, and she was hysterical, saying he was dead. “I was actually getting ready to go out of the hotel room to go and pick him up for lunch. “The first I knew was a telephone call from their apartment,” Clapton recalled in a 1992 interview with British journalist Sue Lawley. Clapton was staying in a hotel nearby and was preparing to pick up Conor for a planned father-son lunch and visit to the Central Park Zoo. Conor accidentally fell to his death from the 53rd-floor residence through a window that had been inadvertently left open following janitorial work in the apartment. Clapton 'went cold' when he learned about his son's accidental deathĬlapton’s son with his ex-girlfriend, Italian actress Lory del Santo, was playing in the New York City apartment he shared with his mother on the morning of March 20, 1991. For Clapton, it arose out of the pain following the accidental death of his 4-year-old son Conor, and it is infused it with all the loss, heartache and longing of a grieving parent. Though it achieved incredible international success, the creation of the song, like many adored ballads and laments, was heavily influenced by the emotional state of its creator. Released in 1991 it charted in the top 10 in more than 20 countries and won Grammys for Song of the Year, Album of the Year ( Unplugged) and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. But there is no doubt who is the maestro, with Clapton bringing all his experience to bear, translating many of his regular rock classics into the unplugged format - a transition that exceeded everyone's expectations.“Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?” asks the lyrics to "Tears in Heaven," the emotionally wrought hit song by guitar idol Eric Clapton. On Clapton Unplugged, alternative takes and additional material add a big creative lift to the original album.Įric Clapton was surrounded by a familiar musical cohorts for the session: Andy Fairweather-Low on guitar, percussionist Ray Cooper, Chuck Leavell on keys and Nathan East on bass. This re-issued package is a treasure chest of the songs that already took the world by storm back then, many of them demonstrating Eric's lifetime devotion to the blues genre, including music from the legendary Robert Johnson, Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy. It took Clapton's career to a new level which he has sustained since. Over the 21 years since then, Clapton Unplugged has garnered six Grammy Awards and sold 20 million copies. Those highlights were about to be eclipsed as he entered a studio in England with a bunch of hand-picked musicians to make his contribution to the Unplugged music TV series. In 1992 Eric Clapton had enjoyed success with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie, and a stellar solo career.
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