Next year Eric Clapton will become the first musician to be triple-inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was previously honored in 1992 as a member of the Yardbirds, and again the following year for his work in Cream. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced that the following artists will also be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000: Earth Wind & Fire, Lovin' Spoonful, the Moonglows, Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor. Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday will be inducted in the "Early Influences" category and the "Non-Performer" inductee will be Clive Davis. The Fifteenth Annual Induction Ceremony will be held on Monday March 6, 2000 a the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Eric Patrick Clapton was born on 30 March 1945 in his grandparents' home in Surrey, England. He was the illegitimate son of 16-year-old Patricia Clapton and Edward Fryer, a 24-year-old Canadian soldier stationed in England. Before Clapton was born, Fryer returned to his wife in Canada. Pat's parents, Rose and Jack Clapp*, cared for young Eric. Eventually, Pat met another Canadian soldier, Frank McDonald. After their marriage, they would move to Canada and Germany as McDonald continued his military career. Pat would have three more children: Brian (b. 1948, d. 1974), Cheryl (b. 5 May 1953), and Heather (b. 27 September 1958). Clapton's grandparents never legally adopted him, but remained his guardians until 1963.

Quiet and polite, Clapton was characterized as an above-average student with an aptitude for art. From his earliest years in school, he realized something was not quite right when he wrote his name as "Eric Clapton" and his parents' names as "Mr. and Mrs. Clapp". At the age of nine, Clapton's emotional world was shattered when Pat returned to England with his six-year-old half brother for a visit. He had been raised under the illusion that his grandparents were his parents and that his mother was his older sister, ostensibly to protect him from the truth. This singular event would change Clapton's personality and create a loss of identity. He became moody and distant and stopped applying himself at school. Emotionally scarred by this event, Clapton failed the all-important 11 Plus Exams. He was sent to St. Bede's Secondary Modern School, and two years later, entered the art branch of Holyfield Road School. In 1961, Clapton began studying at the Kingston College of Art on a one-year probation. He was expelled at the end of that time for not submitting enough work. The reason was that guitar playing and listening to the Blues dominated his waking hours. Before turning to music as a career, he supported himself as a laborer at building sites, working alongside his grandfather.

In early 1963, Clapton joined his first band, The Roosters. Following the band's demise, he spent one month in the pop-oriented Casey Jones and The Engineers. In October 1963, Keith Relf and Paul Samwell-Smith recruited him to become a member of The Yardbirds because Clapton was the most talked about player on the R&B pub circuit. It was with The Yardbirds that Clapton made his first albums Five Live Yardbirds, Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds, and the single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl". During this time, he also earned his nickname, "Slowhand", because whenever he would break a string on stage, he would change it to the accompaniment of a "slow hand clap" from the audience.

And so it goes... more about the man than you'd ever need to know! It's all here: ERIC CLAPTON FAQ
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see also: ERIC CLAPTON SIGNATURE STRATOCASTER
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