Eric Clapton, born Eric Patrick Clapton, in Ripley, Surrey on March 30th 1945, is an English rock guitarist, vocalist and composer. Initially reaching fame with the Yardbirds, he played on their first hit For Your Love but was disenchanted with the commercial pop direction the band were embracing on the song and left shortly afterwards to join John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers in which John McVie was bassist at the time. The resulting album Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton is considered a benchmark of British blues rock.
Shortly afterwards, Clapton left to form Cream with Jack Bruce (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums). This outfit released four albums and enjoyed a series of hit singles before disbanding in 1969. Clapton and Baker then formed the short lived Blind Faith with Steve Winwood and ex-Family bassist Ric Grech. After this outfit disbanded, Clapton embarked on a successful solo career which continues to this day. His hit songs include Layla (with his short-lived band Derek and the Dominoes), Wonderful Tonight, Tears in Heaven (written following the death of his five-year old son) and My Father's Eyes.
His connections with Fleetwood Mac remained strong though. He played on Christine McVie's song The Challenge on her self-titled 1984 album and on Clapton's own Behind the Sun (1985), Lindsey Buckingham played rhythm guitar on the track Something's Happening. Back in 1970 he featured with Dave Mason on George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass.