Eric Clapton

British guitarist and songwriter Eric Clapton was born in 1945 in Ripley, Surrey, and from the early 1960s made his mark on the English rock and blues scene. After a notable stint with The Yardbirds, Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, then co-founded the power trio Cream in 1966, where he developed an electric, improvisatory blues rock that drew a wide audience. At the end of the 1960s, he took part in the supergroup Blind Faith, then launched Derek and the Dominos, with whom he recorded the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs in 1970. That same year marked the start of his solo career with Eric Clapton, followed notably by 461 Ocean Boulevard in 1974 and Slowhand in 1977, as his writing shifted toward a more pop-rock format while remaining rooted in the blues. In the 1990s, the acoustic album Unplugged (1992) brought his taste for stripped-down reinterpretations back to the fore, ahead of projects focused on traditional blues such as From the Cradle (1994). His playing moves between electric and acoustic settings, ballads and covers of standards, with constant attention to phrasing and the American blues tradition.