Despite his love for blues music, he found learning to play so challenging he almost gave up. He practised for many long hours, hanging on to learn chords and trying to imitate and mimic the sounds and tone of his blues guitar idols like Big Bill Broonzy by listening to them on his tape machine.
Finding that the study of stained glass design at England's Kingston College of Art wasn't right for him, he busked around Kingston, Richmond and London's West End before joining his first band at age 17 - the Roosters - an R&B outfit, in 1963. From there, Eric Clapton went on to a stunning musical career as an incredibly talented guitar player, singer and songwriter.
His versatility is remarkable, with hits in genres from Delta blues ('Me & Mr Johnson'), pop ('Change the world') and reggae ('I shot the sheriff'). Nicknamed 'Slowhand' for his string-bending blues licks and riffs, Eric Clapton is known as one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. Do you know that Eric was 'christened' Slowhand by the manager of The Yardbirds because when he broke a string [only had 1 telecaster] he took his time replacing it on stage ...and let everone wait...including the audience.
With his love of the instrument demonstrated in his collection of about 750 guitars, Eric Clapton is hailed as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. How is your musical journey progressing?
