Eric Clapton: the autobiography. Eric Clapton and Christopher Simon Sykes. 2007.

Eric Clapton is far more than a rock star. Like Dylan and McCartney he is an icon and a living legend. He has sold tens of millions of records, played sell-out concerts all over the world and been central to the significant musical developments of his era. His guitar playing has seen him hailed as ‘God’. Tracks such as Layla, Sunshine of Your love, Wonderful Tonight and Tears in Heaven have become anthems for generations of music fans. Now for the first time, Eric tells the story of his personal and professional journeys in this pungent, witty and painfully honest autobiography.

Eric was born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents. He never knew his father and until the age of nine believed his absentee mother to be his sister. In his teens his solace was the guitar and he soon became a cult hero in the club circuits of Britain. With the foundation of the world’s first super group, Cream in 1966 he became a world superstar.

But the rock star lifestyle has had a darker side. In more than forty years at the forefront of his profession he has twice survived near fatal addictions to drugs and alcohol, the death of his four-year-old son, the death of friends such as Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon, the break-up of marriage and the disintegration of relationships with a succession of beautiful women.