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Sabtu, 26 Desember 2009

Sting (the police)


Biography

Sumner was born in Wallsend, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne[1] the eldest of four children born to Audrey (née Cowell), a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, a milkman and engineer.[2] His parents had three more children: Philip, Angela and Anita. Young Gordon would often assist his father with the early-morning milk-delivery rounds and his "best friend" was an old Spanish guitar with five rusty strings which had been left behind by an uncle who had emigrated to Canada.[citation needed]

He attended St. Cuthbert's High School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He would often sneak into nightclubs like the Club-A-Go-Go, where he would watch acts such as Cream and Jimi Hendrix, artists who would later influence his own music. After jobs as a bus conductor, a construction labourer, and a tax officer, he attended Northern Counties College of Education, (which later became part of Northumbria University) from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher.[3] He then worked as a schoolteacher at St. Paul's Middle School in Cramlington for two years.

His first music gigs were wherever he could get a playing job. He performed evenings, weekends, and during breaks from college and from teaching in jazz groups. He played with local jazz bands such as the Phoenix Jazzmen, the Newcastle Big Band, and Last Exit. He gained his nickname after he performed wearing a black and yellow sweater with hooped stripes while onstage with the Phoenix Jazzmen. Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought that the sweater made him look like a yellowjacket, which prompted the nickname "Sting". In a press conference filmed in the movie Bring on the Night, he jokingly stated when referred to by a journalist as Mr. Sumner, "My children call me Sting, my mother calls me Sting, who is this Gordon character?"[4]
[edit] The Police
Main article: The Police

In January 1977, Sting moved from Newcastle to London, and soon thereafter he joined Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani (who was soon replaced by Andy Summers) to form the New Wave band The Police. Between 1978 and 1983, they released five chart-topping albums and won six Grammy Awards. Although their initial sound was punk inspired, The Police soon switched to reggae-tinged rock and minimalist pop. Their last album, Synchronicity, which included their most successful song, "Every Breath You Take", was released in 1983. While never formally breaking up, after Synchronicity the group agreed to concentrate on solo projects. As the years went by the band members, particularly Sting, dismissed the possibility of reforming. In 2007, however, the band reformed and undertook a world tour.
[edit] Early solo work

In September 1981, Sting made his first live solo appearance, performing on all four nights of the fourth Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball at the invitation of producer Martin Lewis. He performed solo versions of "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". He also led an all-star band (dubbed "The Secret Police") on his own arrangement of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". The band and chorus included Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, all of whom except Beck later worked together on Live Aid. His performances were featured prominently in the album and movie of the show and drew critical attention to his work. Sumner's participation in The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the beginning of his growing involvement in raising money and consciousness for political and social causes. In 1982 he released a solo single, "Spread a Little Happiness" from the film version of the Dennis Potter television play Brimstone and Treacle. The song was a re-interpretation of a song from the 1920s musical Mr. Cinders by Vivian Ellis, and was a surprise Top 20 hit in the UK.
[edit] 1980s

His first solo album, 1985's The Dream of the Blue Turtles, featured a cast of accomplished jazz musicians, including Kenny Kirkland, Darryl Jones, Omar Hakim, and Branford Marsalis. It included the hit single "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free". The single included a fan favourite non-LP track titled "Another Day". The album also yielded the hits "Fortress Around Your Heart", "Russians", and "Love is the Seventh Wave". Within a year, it reached Triple Platinum. This album would help Sting garner a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. The film Bring on the Night, directed by Michael Apted, documented the formation of the band and its first concert in France.
Sting performing in 1985

Also in 1985, he sang the introduction and chorus to "Money for Nothing", a groundbreaking song by Dire Straits (he was given co-writer status and receives royalties based on his somewhat minor performance, supposedly because he reused his melody from The Police hit "Don't Stand So Close to Me" for his vocal parts. It is one of only two shared songwriting credits on any Dire Straits album). He performed this song with Dire Straits at the Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium. He also provided a short guest vocal performance on the Miles Davis album You're Under Arrest. He also sang backing vocals in Arcadia's single "The Promise" from their only album, So Red the Rose. He also contributed a version of "Mack the Knife" to the Hal Willner-produced tribute album Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill. In 1984 he performed a song with a band called Band Aid. The song was, Do They Know It's Christmas for the relief of poverty in Africa.

He released ...Nothing Like the Sun in 1987, including the hit songs "We'll Be Together", "Fragile", "Englishman in New York", and "Be Still My Beating Heart", dedicated to his recently-deceased mother. It eventually went Double Platinum. The song "The Secret Marriage" from this album was adapted from a melody by German composer Hanns Eisler, and "Englishman In New York" was about the eccentric writer Quentin Crisp. The album's title is taken from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.

Soon thereafter, in February 1988, he released Nada como el sol, a selection of five songs from Sun sung (by Sting himself) in Spanish and Portuguese. He was also involved in two other recordings in the late 1980s, the first in 1987 with noted jazz arranger Gil Evans who placed Sting in a big band setting for a live album of Sting's songs (the CD was not released in the U.S.), and the second on Frank Zappa's 1988 Broadway the Hard Way album, where Sting performs an unusual arrangement of "Murder By Numbers", set to the tune "Stolen Moments" by jazz composer Oliver Nelson, and "dedicated" to fundamentalist evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. October 1988 saw the release of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale with the London Sinfonietta conducted by Kent Nagano. It featured Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Ian McKellen and Sting in the role of the soldier.
[edit] 1990s

His 1991 album The Soul Cages was dedicated to his recently deceased father and included the Top 10 song "All this Time", which reached #5 on the U.S. Pop chart, and the Grammy-winning "The Soul Cages". The album eventually went Platinum. The following year, he married Trudie Styler and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in music from Northumbria University. In 1991, Sting appeared on "Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin ", an album dedicated to the singer/songwriter duo. Sting performed "Come Down in Time", for the album which also features other popular artists and their renditions of John/Taupin Songs. The album was released on 22 October 1991 by Polydor. In 1993, he released the album Ten Summoner's Tales, which went Triple Platinum in just over a year. Ten Summoner's Tales was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1993 and nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1994. The title is wordplay on his surname, Sumner and The Summoner's Tale, one of The Canterbury Tales. The single, "Fields of Gold" had moderate success on radio airways. Concurrent video albums were released to support Soul Cages (a live concert) and Ten Summoner's Tales (recorded during the recording sessions for the album).

In May 1993, he released a cover of his own classic Police song from the Ghost in the Machine album, "Demolition Man" for the Demolition Man film. Together with Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting performed the chart-topping song "All For Love" for the film The Three Musketeers. The song stayed at the top of the U.S. charts for five weeks and went Platinum; it is to date Sting's only song from his post-Police career to top the U.S. charts. In February, he won two more Grammy Awards and was nominated for three more. The Berklee College of Music gave him his second honorary doctorate of music degree in May. In November, he released a greatest hits compilation called Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting, which eventually was certified Double Platinum. That same year, he was featured in a duet with Vanessa Williams on the song "Sister Moon," which appeared on her album The Sweetest Days.

His 1996 album, Mercury Falling debuted strongly with the single "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot", but it dropped quickly on the charts. He reached the Top 40 with two singles the same year with "You Still Touch Me" (June) and "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" (December) (which became a country music hit the next year in a version recorded with American country singer Toby Keith). During this period, Sting was also recording music for the upcoming Disney film Kingdom of the Sun, which went on to be reworked into The Emperor's New Groove. The film went through drastic overhauls and plot changes, many of which were documented by Sting's wife, Trudie Styler. She captured the moment he was called by Disney who then informed him that his songs would not be used in the final film. The story was put into a final product: The Sweatbox, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Disney currently holds the rights to the film and will not grant its release. That same year Sting also released a little-known CD-ROM called All This Time, which provided music, commentary and custom computer features describing Sting and his music from his perspective.

Also in 1996, he provided some vocals for the Tina Turner single "On Silent Wings" as a part of her Wildest Dreams album. Sting has also cooperated with Greek popular singer George Dalaras, giving a common concert in Athens. "Moonlight", a rare jazz performance by Sting for the 1995 remake of Sabrina, written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and John Williams, was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television.
[edit] 2000s
Sting live in Budapest, 2000

The Emperor's New Groove soundtrack was released with complete songs from the previous version of the film, which included Rascal Flatts and Shawn Colvin. This is seen by many[who?] as a move on Disney's part to soothe the relationship with Sting and to keep open the door for future projects. The final single used to promote the film was "My Funny Friend and Me". Sting's September 1999 album Brand New Day included the Top 40 hits "Brand New Day" and "Desert Rose". The album went Triple Platinum by January 2001. In 2000, he won Grammy Awards for Brand New Day and the song of the same name. At the awards ceremony, he performed "Desert Rose" with his collaborator on the album version, Cheb Mami. For his performance, the Arab-American Institute Foundation gave him the Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Award. However, Sting was criticized for appearing in a Jaguar advertisement using "Desert Rose" as its backing track, particularly as he was a notable environmentalist.

In February 2001 he won another Grammy Award for his rendition of "She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rosa)" on A Love Affair: The Music Of Ivan Lins. His song "After The Rain Has Fallen" made it into the Top 40. His next project was to record a live album at his Tuscan villa, which was to be released as a CD and DVD, as well as being simulcast in its entirety on the internet. The CD and DVD were to be entitled On such a night and was intended to feature re-workings of Sting favourites such as "Roxanne" and "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free." The concert, scheduled for 11 September 2001, was altered in various ways due to the terrorist attacks in America that day. The webcast was shut down after one song (a reworked version of "Fragile"), after which Sting let it be up to the audience whether or not to continue with the show. Eventually they decided to go through with the concert, and the resultant album and DVD was released in November under a different title, ...All This Time. Both are dedicated "to all those who lost their lives on that day". He performed a special arrangement of "Fragile" with Yo-Yo Ma and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 2002 he won a Golden Globe Award for the song "Until..." from the film Kate and Leopold. Written and performed by him, "Until..." was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Song. In June he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In the summer, Sting was awarded the British honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 2003 he released Sacred Love, a studio album featuring collaborations with hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige and sitar performer Anoushka Shankar. He and Blige won a Grammy for their duet, "Whenever I Say Your Name". The song is based on Johann Sebastian Bach’s Praeambulum 1 C-Major (BWV 924) from the Klavierbuechlein fuer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach though Sting gave little comment on this adaptation.[5] The album did not have the hit singles like his previous releases. The first single, "Send Your Love" reached only #30 and reviews were mixed. However, the album did reach platinum status by January 2004.

His autobiography Broken Music was published in October. He embarked on a Sacred Love tour in 2004 with performances by Annie Lennox. Sting went on the Broken Music tour, touring smaller venues, with a four piece band starting in Los Angeles on 28 March 2005 and ending this "College Tour" on 14 May 2005. Sting appears as a guest on the 2005 Monkey Business CD by American hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas, adding vocals to the track "Union" which makes heavy use of samples from his Englishman in New York. Continuing with his involvement in Live Aid, he appeared at Live 8 in July 2005. During 2006, Sting collaborated with Roberto Livi in producing a Spanish language version of his cult classic "Fragile" entitled "Fragilidad" on the album Rhythms Del Mundo by Latino recording legends "The Buena Vista Sound" (previously known as the Buena Vista Social Club) available via www.apeuk.org.
Sting with The Police at Madison Square Garden, New York, 1 August 2007 Photo: Lionel Urman)

In October 2006, he released an album, to mixed reviews, entitled Songs from the Labyrinth featuring the music of John Dowland (an Elizabethan-era composer) and accompaniment from Bosnian lute player Edin Karamazov. As a part of the promotion of this album, he appeared on the fifth episode of Studio 60 during which he performed a segment of Dowland's "Come Again" as well as his own "Fields of Gold" in the arrangement for voice and two archlutes. Reports surfaced in early 2007 that Sting would reunite with his former Police band mates for a 30th anniversary tour. These rumours were confirmed by posts on the popular fanzine Stingus and on various other news websites such as De Standaard, Yahoo! etc. In May 2007, Deutsche Grammophon releases the opera Welcome to the Voice (composer Steve Nieve), with Sting portraying Dyonisos.

On 11 February 2007, he reunited with the other members of the Police as the introductory act for the 2007 Grammy Awards, singing "Roxanne", and subsequently announced The Police Reunion Tour, the first concert of which was held in Vancouver on 28 May in front of 22,000 fans at one of two nearly sold-out concerts. The Police toured for more than a year, beginning with North America and eventually crossing over to Europe, South America, Australia & New Zealand and Japan. The last concert was at Madison Square Garden on 7 August 2008, during which his three daughters appeared with him onstage. In 2007 he recorded a song called "Power's Out" with Nicole Scherzinger (lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls) the song is featured on her debut album Her Name Is Nicole which she was prepared to release in the beginning of 2008. On 1 February 2008, "Power's Out" was added on Nicole's official website and now "Power's Out" will be the official second single off Her Name Is Nicole. He also works with his sound enginere Ian Newton, and Newton's daughter, Jenny Newton, a singer.[citation needed]

He is featured as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.[6] "Brand New Day" was the final song of the night for the Neighborhood Ball, one of ten inaugural balls honouring President Barack Obama on Inauguration Day, 20 January 2009. Sting was joined by Stevie Wonder on harmonica. According to an article posted on his official website, Sting entered the studio in early February 2009 to begin work on a new album "If on a Winter's Night...",[7] released on October 2009.[8] Initial reviews by fans that had access to early promotional copies were mixed, and some questioned Sting's artistic direction with this album.[9]
[edit] Acting

Sting occasionally has ventured into acting. Film and television roles include:

* The Ace Face, the King of The Mods, a.k.a. The Bell Boy in the movie adaptation of The Who album Quadrophenia (1979)
* Radio On : Just Like Eddie (1980)
* The angel Helith in the BBC TV film Artemis 81 (1981)
* Martin Taylor, a drifter in Brimstone and Treacle (1982)
* Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the movie Dune (1984)
* Mick, a black-marketeer in Plenty (1985)
* Baron Frankenstein in The Bride (1985)
* Himself in the documentary film Bring on the Night (1985)
* A "heroic officer" in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
* Finney, a nightclub owner in Stormy Monday (1988)
* Daniel, a British gentleman in Julia and Julia (1988)
* Himself on The Simpsons episode "Radio Bart" (1992)
* Himself on The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer Episode 5 (1995)
* Fledge in The Grotesque (1995), in which he appears nude
* Himself in The Larry Sanders Show episode "Where Is the Love?" (1996)
* J.D., Eddie's father and owner of a bar, in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
* Himself in Ally Mcbeal Season four episode Cloudy Skies, Chance of Parade (2001)
* Himself in Live DVD The Police: Synchronicity Tour (2005)
* Himself in Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (2006)
* Himself in Studio 60 on Sunset Strip 2006
* Himself on the Vicar of Dibley Comic Relief special (2007)
* Himself in Bee Movie (2007)
* Himself, mistaken by Tom Baker for Stomp, the lead singer of "The Cops" in Little Britain USA (2008) He plays his own song, Fields of Gold
* Himself in Brüno (2009)

Sting narrated the American premiere of the musical Yanomamo (1983), by Peter Rose and Anne Conlon outlining problems that existed in the Amazon rainforest. This was made into a film and later broadcast as Song of the Forest (currently available from WWF-UK). Other appearances on the stage and television include guest spots on Saturday Night Live and Ally McBeal. He also provided the voice of Zarm on the 1990s television show Captain Planet and the Planeteers. In 1989 he starred as Macheath (Mack the Knife) in the The Threepenny Opera, the classic 1928 German musical work by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in New York and Washington. He most recently appeared as a musical guest on the fictional series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Sting appeared on the television sitcom Ally McBeal as himself, being sued for appearing to sing to a fan by the fan's husband.
[edit] Activism

While with the Police, Sting wrote "Driven to Tears", an angry indictment of apathy in the face of world hunger, and it preceded his work on Bob Geldof's "Feed The World" project. Sting sang on "Do They Know It's Christmas?" – a hit single from Geldof's pop music super-group called "Band Aid" which eventually led to the Live Aid Concert in July 1985, in which Sting also took part, performing with Branford Marsalis, Phil Collins and Dire Straits. Throughout the 1980s, Sting strongly supported environmentalism and humanitarian movements, such as Amnesty International. In 1986 he was interviewed by the BBC about the origins of his support for Amnesty International and he stated: "I've been a member of Amnesty and a support member for five years, due to an entertainment event called The Secret Policeman's Ball and before that I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world."[citation needed]

Sting's first involvement in the human rights cause occurred in September 1981 when he was invited by producer Martin Lewis to participate in the fourth Amnesty International gala The Secret Policeman's Other Ball following the example set at the 1979 show by Pete Townshend.[10] Sting performed two of his Police compositions as a soloist – "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle"' – appearing on all four nights of the show at the Theatre Royal in London. Sting also led an impromptu super-group of other musicians (dubbed The Secret Police) performing at the show including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Donovan, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in the show's grand finale – Sting's own reggae-tinged arrangement of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. The event was the first time that Sting had worked with Geldof, Collins and Ure – an association that developed further with 1984's Band Aid and 1985's Live Aid. Sting's performance – his first live appearances as a solo performer – was prominently featured on the album of the show (being its lead tracks) and in the film. In 1986, Sting was one of the headline performers on Amnesty's A Conspiracy of Hope tour of the US. In late 1986, Sting visited Quentin Crisp in his New York City apartment and learned about what it was like for Crisp to grow up in the homophobic 1920s – 1960s. As a result, Sting dedicated the song "Englishman in New York" to Crisp.

A high point in his many contributions to human-rights causes came in 1988, when he joined a team of other major musicians – including Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen – assembled under the banner of Amnesty International for the six-week world tour Human Rights Now! Tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1988, he released the single "They Dance Alone" which chronicled the plight of the mothers, wives and daughters of the "disappeared", the innocent victims of the Pinochet regime in Chile. Unable to publicly voice their grievances to the government about their missing loved ones, for fear that they would "go missing" too, the women of Chile would pin photos of their "disappeared" relatives on their clothing, and dance in silent outrage against the government in public places.[citation needed]

With his wife Trudie Styler and Raoni Metuktire, a Kayapó Indian leader in Brazil, Sting founded the Rainforest Foundation to help save the rainforests. His support for these causes continues to this day, and includes an annual benefit concert held at New York's Carnegie Hall with Billy Joel, Elton John, James Taylor and other music superstars. A species of Colombian tree frog, Dendropsophus stingi, was named after him in recognition of his "commitment and efforts to save the rain forest".[11]

Sting and his wife Trudie Styler were awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award in Sherborn, Massachusetts on 30 June 2000. Singer/song writer, documentary film producers for their commitment to the environment through the establishment of the Rainforest Foundation; to human rights in China through the documentary film on Tiananmen Square; and to peace and social justice through the powerful gift of song.[12] On 21 October 1991, Sting joined Don Henley and Billy Joel at New York's Madison Square Garden for a benefit rock show, The Concert for Walden Woods.

On 15 September 1997, Sting joined Sir Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Sir Elton John, Phil Collins and Mark Knopfler at London's Royal Albert Hall for Music For Montserrat, a benefit concert for the Caribbean island that had recently been devastated by an eruption from a volcano. He also took part in the post-9/11 rock telethon to raise money for the families of the victims of terror attacks in the United States. On 2 July 2005, Sting performed at the Live 8 concert, the follow up to 1985's Live Aid Concert. In 2007, Sting joined Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland and played the closing set at the Live Earth Concert at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Joined by John Mayer and Kanye West, Sting and the Police fittingly ended the show singing "Message in a Bottle," as the event was dubbed "The SOS Concert." In 2008 Sting contributed to a music album called Songs for Tibet, to support Tibet and the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.[13]

Sting played a concert in Uzbekistan on October 2009, at the invitation of Gulnora Karimova, the daughter of the country's President-for-life Islam Karimov.[14] The minimum ticket price for Sting's concert was $250 upwards, which is several times the country's average monthly salary.[15] The concert was in the frames of local Art Week STYLE.UZ project and reportedly had a charity outcomes.[16] In addition to that Sting apparently agreed to award Special Grant Diplomas to 5 talented Uzbek kids, winners of the Yangi Avlod (New Generation) Children Creativity Festival.[17]
[edit] Personal life
Sting at Madison Square Garden in New York on 1 August 2007.

Sting married actress Frances Tomelty from Northern Ireland, on 1 May 1976. Before they divorced in 1984, the couple had two children: Joseph (born 23 November 1976) and Fuchsia Catherine (a.k.a. "Kate", born 17 April 1982). Joe Sumner is a member of the band Fiction Plane. In 1980 Sting became a tax exile and moved to Galway in Ireland. In 1982, shortly after the birth of his second child, Sting separated from Tomelty and began living with actress (and later film producer) Trudie Styler. The couple eventually married in 1992, on 20 August. Sting and Styler have four children: Bridget Michael (a.k.a. "Mickey", born 19 January 1984), Jake (born 24 May 1985), Eliot Pauline (nicknamed "Coco", born 30 July 1990), and Giacomo Luke (born 17 December 1995). Both of Sting's parents died from cancer in 1987. He did not, however, attend either funeral stating that the media fuss would be disrespectful to his parents.[18] 1995 found Sting preparing for a court appearance against his former accountant who had misappropriated several million pounds of his money.[citation needed]

Sting owns several homes worldwide, including Elizabethan manor house Lake House and its 60-acre country estate near Salisbury, Wiltshire; a country cottage in the Lake District; a New York City apartment; a beach house in Malibu, California; a 600-acre (2.4 km2) estate in Tuscany, Italy; and two properties in London: an apartment on The Mall, an 18th century terrace house in Highgate.[19] He also once owned a home in West Hempstead, New York. He also owns homes in the Caribbean, including one in the upscale community of Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic. According to an interview he did for German television broadcaster NDR in 1996, Sting chose a tree on the Lake House estate beside which he wishes to be buried.[citation needed]
Kasparov and Sting, Times Square, New York.

To keep physically fit, for years Sting ran five miles (8 km) a day and performed aerobics. He participated in running races at Parliament Hill and charity runs similar to the British 10K. However, around 1990 he met Danny Paradise who introduced him to yoga, and he later began practising yoga regularly. His practice consisted primarily of an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga series, though now he practices many other forms. He wrote a foreword to the book, [20] written by Ganga White in 2007.

An avid chess player, Sting played Garry Kasparov in an exhibition game in 2000, along with four fellow bandmates: Dominic Miller, Jason Rebello, Chris Botti, and Russ Irwin. Kasparov beat all five simultaneously within 50 minutes.[21] Journalist Stefanie Markidis is currently researching Sting and collaborating with him for a new publication due for first release in early 2010, called "Stingformation Files". Sting has incorporated some aspects of vegetarianism into his diet, but now he eats meat that he raises.[22] Sting is a fan of Newcastle United football club and wrote their song for the 1998 FA Cup final defeat against Arsenal.
[edit] Views and advocacy

Sting is a supporter of Britain’s involvement and further integration into the European Union and declared his support for the controversial Treaty of Lisbon in an interview in 2009:

I‘ve lived in Europe for about 15 years, I live in Italy. So I feel very European. I think it‘s an inevitable thing that our future in the British Isles will be with Europe. We'll be part of Europe, we‘ll be better for it.[23]

Sting has been critical of the television series The X Factor, describing it as "appalling" and "a soap opera which has nothing to do with music":

I watched it the other night for the first time, I've never seen it before. I was appalled. I wouldn't get on The X Factor because I don't sound like anyone they're after, I sound like myself. I think they are basically aping pre-existing stereotypes of what singers should do and they're not being themselves. There's no X Factor there. The music industry is a multi-million dollar business and the shop floor is not The X Factor. It's pubs and clubs up and down the country or you get in your van and you go up and down the M1 and you build an audience that way. That's how you build a backbone.[24]

I am sorry but none of those kids are going to go anywhere, and I say that sadly. How appalling for a young person to feel that rejection. It is a soap opera which has nothing to do with music. In fact, it has put music back decades. Television is very cynical. They are either Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston or Boyzone and are not encouraged to create any real unique signature or fingerprint. That cannot come from TV. The X Factor is a preposterous show and you have judges who have no recognisable talent apart from self-promotion, advising them what to wear and how to look. It is appalling. The real shop floor for musical talent is pubs and clubs, that is where the original work is. But they are being closed down on a daily basis. It is impossible to put an act on in a pub. The music industry has been hugely important to England, bringing in millions. If anyone thinks the The X Factor is going to do that, they are wrong.[25]

[edit] Discography
Main article: Sting discography
See also: The Police discography
Year Title Billboard album 200[26] UK Top 100[27] RIAA[28] BPI[29]
1985 The Dream of the Blue Turtles 2 3 3x Platinum 2x Platinum
1987 ...Nothing Like the Sun 9 1 2x Platinum Platinum
1991 The Soul Cages 2 1 Platinum Gold
1993 Ten Summoner's Tales 2 2 3x Platinum 2x Platinum
1996 Mercury Falling 5 4 Platinum Platinum
1999 Brand New Day 9 5 3x Platinum Platinum
2003 Sacred Love 3 3 Platinum Gold
2006 Songs from the Labyrinth 25 24 — —
2009 If on a Winter's Night... 6 15 Gold —
[edit] Bibliography

* 2009 The Words and Music of Sting, Christopher Gable, Praeger, ISBN 978-0-275-99360-3
* 2007 Lyrics by – Sting, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-1-84737-167-6
* 2003 Autobiography Broken Music, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-7434-5081-7
* 2005 Biography Sting and I, James Berryman, John Blake, ISBN 1-84454-107-X
* 2000 Authorised biography A Sting in the Tale, James Berryman, Mirage Publishing, ISBN 1-90257-813-9
* 1998 Biography Sting – Demolition Man, Christopher Sandford, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 0-316-64372-6

[edit] Awards and nominations
Main article: List of Sting awards

Ritchie Blackmore


Childhood and early life

Blackmore was born at Allandale Nursing Home, Weston-super-Mare, England, but moved to Heston, Middlesex at the age of two. He was 11 when he got his first guitar. His father bought it for him on certain conditions: "He said if I was going to play this thing, he was either going to have someone teach it to me properly, or he was going to smash me across the head with it. So I actually took the lessons for a year – classical lessons - and it got me on to the right footing, using all the fingers and the right strokes of the plectrum and the nonsense that goes with it."[2] Whilst at school he did well at sports including the Javelin. Blackmore left school at age 15 and started work as an apprentice radio mechanic at nearby Heathrow Airport. He was given guitar lessons by Big Jim Sullivan.

He was influenced in his youth by early rockers like Hank Marvin and Gene Vincent, and later, country pickers like Chet Atkins. His playing improved and in the early 1960s he started out as a session player for Joe Meek's music productions and performed in several bands. He was a member of the instrumental combo, The Outlaws, and backed Heinz (playing on his top ten hit "Just Like Eddie"), Screaming Lord Sutch, Glenda Collins and Boz among others. While working for Joe Meek, he got to know engineer Derek Lawrence, who would later produce Deep Purple's first three albums. With organist Jon Lord he co-founded hard rock group Deep Purple in 1968, and continued to be a member of Deep Purple from 1968-1975 and again from 1984-1993.
[edit] Recording career
[edit] (1968-1975) The first Deep Purple years

Blackmore co-founded the hard rock group Roundabout with Wayne Blade in 1968 with Chris Curtis (vocals), Dave Curtis (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), and Bobby Woodman aka Bobbie Clarke (drums). Later on the name was changed to Deep Purple and vocal, bass and drums were changed to Rod Evans (vocals), Nick Simper (bass) and Ian Paice (drums). It was Blackmore's idea to call the band Deep Purple, after his grandmother's favorite song. The band had a hit US single with its remake of the Joe South song "Hush". After three albums Evans and Simper were replaced by Ian Gillan (vocals) and Roger Glover (bass).

The second line-up's first studio album, In Rock, changed the band's style, turning it in a hard rock direction. Blackmore's guitar riffs, Jon Lord's distorted Hammond organ, and Ian Paice's jazz-influenced drums were enhanced by the vocals of Ian Gillan, who Blackmore has described as being "a screamer with depth and a blues feel."

The next release was titled Fireball and continued in the same hard rock style established on the previous release, with Blackmore's guitar remaining a prominent feature of the band's style.

Deep Purple's next album was titled Machine Head. The band originally intended to record the album at a casino in Montreux, but the night before recording was to begin the casino hosted a Frank Zappa concert (with members of Deep Purple in attendance) at which an audience member fired a flare gun which ignited a fire inside the building and the casino burned down. The entire tragedy is documented in the lyrics of what was to become Deep Purple's historic anthem "Smoke on the Water".

In 1973, shortly after the release of the album Who Do We Think We Are, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left Deep Purple.

They were replaced by former Trapeze bassist Glenn Hughes and an unknown singer named David Coverdale. The album recorded by the new line-up was entitled Burn.

Deep Purple continued to perform concerts worldwide, including an appearance at the 1974 'California Jam', a televised concert festival that also included many other prominent bands. At the moment Deep Purple were due to appear, Blackmore locked himself in his dressing room and refused to go onstage. Previous performers had finished early, and it was still not sundown, the time at which the band had originally been scheduled to start. Blackmore felt this would dull the effect of the band's light show. After ABC brought in a sheriff to arrest him, Blackmore agreed to perform. At the culmination of the performance he destroyed several of his guitars and threw one of his amplifier stacks off the edge of the stage. He also struck one of the ABC cameras with a guitar, and in recorded footage can be seen arranging for his road crew to set off a pyrotechnic device in one of his amplifiers, creating a large fireball that was quickly extinguished. The band quickly exited the venue by helicopter, avoiding fire marshals, police officers and ABC executives.

Deep Purple's next album, Stormbringer, was publicly denounced by Blackmore himself, who disliked the funky soul influences that Hughes and Coverdale injected into the band. Following its release, he departed Deep Purple to front a new group, Rainbow, which was originally thought to be a one-off collaboration by Blackmore and the Ronnie James Dio-fronted band Elf, but was later revealed to be a new band project.
[edit] 1975–84: the first Rainbow years
Blackmore, right, with Rainbow in 1977

After Deep Purple, Blackmore formed the hard rock band Rainbow. The name of the band Rainbow was inspired by a Hollywood bar and grill called the Rainbow that catered to rock stars, groupies and rock enthusiasts. It was here that Blackmore spent his off time from Deep Purple and met vocalist Ronnie James Dio, whose band Elf had toured regularly as an opening act for Deep Purple.

The band's debut album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, was released in 1975. The band's musical style differed from Blackmore's previous band and much of Blackmore's inspiration came from his love of classical music which matched nicely with Dio's lyrics about medieval themes.

Blackmore fired every original band member except Dio shortly after the first album was recorded, and recruited a new lineup to record the album Rainbow Rising.

For the next album, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, Blackmore kept the drummer Cozy Powell and Dio but replaced the rest of the band. Blackmore had difficulty finding a bass player for this record so he handled all the bass duties himself, except on three songs: "Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", and "Sensitive To Light" (the bass on these songs was performed by Bob Daisley.) After the album's release and supporting tour, Ronnie James Dio left Rainbow due to "creative differences" with Blackmore.

Blackmore continued with Rainbow and the band released a new album entitled Down To Earth, which featured his ex-Deep Purple bandmate Roger Glover on bass. The album contained Blackmore's first chart successes since leaving Deep Purple, as the Graham Bonnet-fronted single "Since You Been Gone" (a cover of the Russ Ballard penned tune) became a smash hit.[3] In 1980 Blackmore's Rainbow headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England. Bonnet and Cozy Powell would leave after this, Powell would go on to join former Deep Purple members in Whitesnake.

The band's next album, Difficult to Cure, introduced vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. The title track from this album was an arrangement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, a personal favourite of Blackmore's.

Rainbow's next studio album was Straight Between the Eyes and included the hit single "Stone Cold." It would be followed by the album Bent Out of Shape, which featured the single "Street Of Dreams". The song's video was banned by MTV for its supposedly controversial hypnotic video clip.[4] The resulting tour saw Rainbow return to the UK and also to Japan where the band performed with a full orchestra.

By the mid-1980s, Blackmore and his former Deep Purple bandmates had reconciled past differences and a reunion of the successful "Mark II" lineup took place. A final Rainbow album, Finyl Vinyl, was patched together from live tracks and "b" sides of singles.
[edit] (1984-1993) The second Deep Purple years

In April 1984, it was announced on BBC Radio's Friday Rock Show that the "Mark Two" line-up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, and Paice was reforming and recording new material. The band signed a deal with Polydor in Europe and Mercury in North America. The album Perfect Strangers was released in October 1984. A tour followed, starting in Perth, Australia and wound its way across the world and into Europe by the following summer. It was the highest-grossing group tour of the year. The UK homecoming proved mixed as they elected to play just one festival, 'The Return of the Knebworth Fayre', at Knebworth Park on 22 June, 1985. Despite poor weather conditions, an audience of 80,000 attended the show that also featured Scorpions, Mama's Boys and Meat Loaf amongst others. BBC Radio One broadcast the set.

In 1987, the line-up recorded and toured in support of the album, The House of Blue Light. A live album, Nobody's Perfect was released in 1988. A new version of "Hush" (sung by Gillan, who had not yet joined the band when the original recording was made), was also released to mark the band's twentieth anniversary. In 1989, Ian Gillan was fired from the band because of a poor working relationship with Blackmore. His replacement was former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. This lineup recorded one album titled Slaves & Masters (1990). Though the album was a favorite of Blackmore's, his bandmates were disappointed with the efforts of the album and tours.[5]

Neither the album nor the tour were critically or commercially successful. Following its conclusion, Turner was fired from the band. Both Jon Lord and Ian Paice argued that Deep Purple needed Ian Gillan as the band's frontman. Blackmore relented and Gillan returned prior to recording The Battle Rages On in 1993. During the support tour in late 1993, tensions between Gillan and Blackmore reached a climax and Blackmore left the band permanently. His last show with the band was in Helsinki, Finland on 17 November, 1993.

Gillan said: "Joe Satriani came in at the last minute. Blackmore walked out and the tour was taking off to Japan... it was all very dramatic. He said: 'Alright, that's the end of the band,' and assumed because he left that we were going to fold up." [5] Satriani was asked to join full time but had to decline as he was tied into a long recording contract. A permanent replacement for Blackmore was eventually found in another guitar legend, Steve Morse of Dixie Dregs, who joined the band in 1994.

Ian Gillan, who had been Ritchie Blackmore's roommate during the early days of the band, stated in a 2006 interview that Blackmore had "turned into a weird guy and the day he walked out of the tour was the day the clouds disappeared and the day the sunshine came out and we haven't looked back since." [5] Gillan noted that after Blackmore "walked out, things picked up and recovered unbelievably, remarkably well and the band's in great shape now".[5] He added that "there are certain personal issues that I have with Ritchie, which means that I will never speak to him again. Nothing I'm going to discuss publicly, but deeply personal stuff."[5]
[edit] (1993-1997) The second Rainbow years

Ritchie Blackmore reformed Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple a second time in 1993. This Rainbow line up with singer Doogie White lasted until 1997 and produced the album Stranger in Us All. In the years Rainbow was together, Blackmore was the only consistent member.[3] Stranger In Us All failed to measure up to the critical and commercial acclaim of previous releases, possibly due to the popularity of grunge rock at the time and the fact it was not particularly well publicised. In 1996, he appeared on the tribute album to Hank Marvin and The Shadows "Twang" on Sting's Pangea label with a rendition of Gerry Lordan's Apache.
[edit] (1997-present) The Blackmore's Night years
Ritchie performing with Candice Night

In 1997, Blackmore and his (now) wife Candice Night formed the Renaissance-inspired pop group Blackmore's Night. They have also performed the music for MagiQuest, a live simulation game located in Myrtle Beach, SC. Their debut album Shadow of the Moon (1997) went gold in Japan and enjoyed some success in Europe. In subsequent albums, particularly Fires at Midnight (2001), there was an increased incorporation of rock guitar into the music, whilst maintaining a folk rock direction.
[edit] Musical style

With Deep Purple and Rainbow, Blackmore almost exclusively played a Fender Stratocaster. He is also one of the first rock guitarists to use a "scalloped" fretboard where the wood is shaved down between the frets.[citation needed]

One of Blackmore's best-known guitar riffs is from the song "Smoke on the Water". He plays the riff without a pick, using two fingers to pluck the D and G strings in fourths.

In his soloing, Blackmore combines blues scales and phrases with minor scales and ideas from European classical music. While playing he would often put the pick in his mouth to play with his fingers.

He has two guitar solos ranked on Guitar World magazine's "Top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" ("Highway Star" at #19 and "Lazy" at #74, both from the album Machine Head).[6]
[edit] Equipment

During the 1960s Blackmore played a Gibson ES-335 but switched to a Fender Stratocaster after buying a second hand Stratocaster which included a Telecaster neck from Eric Clapton's roadie. However, the guitar was deemed unplayable by Blackmore due to the fact that the intonation was too off to be fixed. Since then and right up until his Blackmore's Night project Blackmore has used Stratocasters almost exclusively. The middle pickup is screwed down and not used, with only the bass and treble pickup selector set. Blackmore has also occasionally used a Fender Telecaster Thinline during recording sessions.

In the 70s, Blackmore used a number of different Stratocasters. However, around the time of the Long Live Rock 'n' Roll album, Blackmore found one particular Strat that was his main guitar up until Blackmore's Night. Like most of Blackmore's guitars, this Strat had its fingerboard scalloped. The pickups in it have been changed quite a few times, as described below. Blackmore added a strap lock to the headstock of this guitar as a conversation piece to annoy and confuse people[7].

His amplifers were originally 200W Marshall Major stacks which were modified by Marshall with an additional output stage (generated approximately 278W) to make them sound more like Blackmore's favourite Vox AC-30 amp, cranked to full volume. Since 1994 he has used Engl valve amps. One of the reasons he cited was that the Marshall heads did not sound as good as the Engls at low volume.

Blackmore frequently used effects during his time with Deep Purple and Rainbow, (despite claims to the opposite). He used a Hornby Skewes Treble Booster in the early days. Around the time of the Burn sessions he experimented with an EMS Synthi Hi Fli guitar synthesizer. He would sometimes use a wah-wah pedal and a variable control treble-booster for sustain. Moog Taurus bass pedals were used during solo parts of concerts. He also had a modified Aiwa TP-1011 tape machine built to supply echo and delay effects. The tape deck was also used as a pre-amp. Other effects that Blackmore used were a Schulte Compact Phasing A, a Unicord Univibe, a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face and an Octave Divider. In the mid 80s he also experimented with Roland guitar synths. A Roland GR-700 was seen on stage as late as 1995-96, later replaced with the GR-50. Guitar synths are also used quite a bit in Blackmore's Night. As an example, Blackmore plays with a slide over what is probably an organ patch in the beginning of Way to Mandalay.

His strings used during his tenures with Deep Purple and Rainbow were Picato brand (.010, .011, .014, .026, .038, .048) Blackmore has experimented with many different pickups in his Strats. In the early Rainbow era they were still stock Fenders, later Dawk installed overwound, dipped, Fender pickups. He has also used Schecter F-500-Ts, Velvet Hammer "Red Rhodes", DiMarzio "HS-2", OBL "Black Label", Bill Lawrence L-450, XL-250 (bridge), L-250 (neck). He used Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Flat SSL-4 for several years and since the late 80s he has used Lace Sensor (Gold) "noiseless" pickups.
[edit] Plagiarism claim

Nick Simper, the bassist with DP Mk I,[8] claims that he showed Ritchie Blackmore the riff from Ricky Nelson's "Summertime" and that it was the basis for the first Mk II Deep Purple single "Black Night." Roger Glover agrees in an interview with Rumba Magazine, November 1993 [9] and says that he (Glover) insisted that they write new words and put it out as the single the record company wanted them to make. In mitigation he claims that they were all drunk. Nick Simper also identifies It's a Beautiful Day's Bombay Calling as a tune "which Mark II borrowed, and turned it into Child in Time"; Ian Gillan [10] confirmed this in several interviews. It's a Beautiful Day in return borrowed Purple's "Wring that Neck" and turned it into "Don And Dewey" on their album Marrying Maiden. Blackmore also confirmed some of these claims in a Japanese TV interview.[11]
[edit] Personal life

Blackmore has a son, Jürgen R. Blackmore (b. 1964), from his first marriage to a German woman named Margrit.[12] Their marriage ended in 1969. He married another German woman, named Bärbel Hardie in September 1969. His third marriage, in May 1981, to Amy Rothman,[13] ended after divorce in 1987 (they separated in 1983). He and bandmate Candice Night have been living together since 1991 (they first met in 1989).[14] The couple currently resides in Mount Sinai, Long Island, New York. On Oct. 5, 2008, Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night married at the Castle on the Hudson.[15] According to Ian Gillan, Blackmore is known to be a very difficult person. Gillan states, "He's very difficult, he wants everything done his own way, he won't listen to anyone else, and he doesn't want anyone else to make any contributions to the music, as well as cancelling tours at the last minute." Ian Paice has also described him as being difficult, and Jon Lord has commented that he can be childish.[16]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Pre Deep Purple

* 1963 Just Like Eddie (Heinz)
* 1963 Heinz (Heinz, EP)
* 1963 Live It Up (Heinz, EP)
* 1965 Michael Cox in Sweden (Michael Cox, EP)
* 1964 Ramona (Houston Wells & The Marksmen, EP)
* 1965 Tom Jones (Tom Jones, EP)
* 1965 Glenda Collins (Glenda Collins, EP)
* 1965 The Tornados (The Tornados, EP)
* 1965 Screaming Lord Sutch (Screaming Lord Sutch, EP)
* 1989 Rock Profile (Ritchie Blackmore)
* 1991 Rock Profile Vol. 2 (Ritchie Blackmore)
* 1991 The Derek Lawrence Sessions Take 1
* 1992 The Derek Lawrence Sessions Take 3
* 1994 Dreams Do Come True - The 45's Collection (Heinz)
* 1994 Heinz (Heinz, EP)
* 1994 Take It! Sessions 63/68 (Ritchie Blackmore)
* 2005 Getaway - Groups & Sessions (Ritchie Blackmore)

[edit] Guest appearances

* 1971 Green Bullfrog (Green Bulfrog, re-releases: 1980, 1991)
* 1972 Hands Of Jack The Ripper (Screaming Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends)
* 1973 Hurry To The City (Randy Pie & Family, SP)
* 1974 I Survive (Adam Faith, "I Survive")
* 1980 Humanesque (Jack Green, "I Call, No Answer")
* 1990 The Earthquake Album (Rock Aid Armenia, "Smoke On The Water '90")
* 1992 Caché Derriève (Laurent Voulzy, "Guitare héraut")
* 1996 Twang! A Tribute To Hank Marvin & The Shadows ("Apache")
* 1996 All Right Now (Sweet, "All Right Now By Now", recorded live 1976)
* 1997 In A Metal Mood - No More Mr Nice Guy (Pat Boone, "Smoke On The Water")
* 2000 Live '99 (Geyers Schwarzer Haufen, "Göttliche Devise")
* 2004 Historock Lästerzungen (Geyers Schwarzer Haufen, "God's Gospel")

[edit] Blackmore's Night

Albums:

* Shadow of the Moon (1997)
* Under a Violet Moon (1999)
* Fires at Midnight (2001)
* Minstrels and Ballads (2001)
* Ghost of a Rose (2003)
* The Village Lanterne (2006)
* Winter Carols (2006)
* Secret Voyage (2008)

Live albums:

* Past Times with Good Company (2002)

Compilation albums:

* Beyond the Sunset: The Romantic Collection (2004)

Live VHS/DVDs:

* Shadow of the Moon (1997)
* Live in Germany '99 (2000)
* Castles and Dreams (2005)
* Paris Moon (2007)

[edit] Film appearances

* 1991 Deep Purple - Heavy Metal Pioneers
* 1995 Rock Family Trees - Deep Purple
* 2002 Classic Albums - Deep Purple's Machine Head
* 2006 Rainbow - In Their Own Words (archive footage)
* 2008 Guitar Gods - Ritchie Blackmore (archive footage)

Kamis, 24 Desember 2009

Eric Clapton


Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945) is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream, and as a solo performer, being the only person ever to be inducted three times. Often viewed by critics and fans alike as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time,[2] Clapton was ranked fourth in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"[3] and #53 on their list of the Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[4]

Although Clapton has varied his musical style throughout his career, it has always remained grounded in the blues. Yet, in spite of this focus, he is credited as an innovator in a wide variety of genres. These include blues-rock (with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and the Yardbirds) and psychedelic rock (with Cream). Clapton's chart success was not limited to the blues, with chart-toppers in Delta Blues (Me and Mr. Johnson), pop ("Change the World") and reggae (Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff") (He is often credited for bringing reggae and Bob Marley to the mainstream.) Two of his most successful recordings were the hit love song "Layla", which he played with the band Derek and the Dominos, and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", which has been his staple song since his days with Cream.
Career
[edit] Early years

Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (b. January 7, 1929) and Edward Walter Fryer (b. March 21, 1920), a 24-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec. Fryer shipped off to war prior to Clapton's birth and then returned to Canada. Clapton grew up with his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband Jack, believing they were his parents and that his mother was his older sister. Their surname was Clapp, which has given rise to the widespread but erroneous belief that Clapton's real surname is Clapp (Reginald Cecil Clapton is the name of Rose's first husband, Eric Clapton's maternal grandfather).[5] Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier, moved to Canada and left young Eric with his grandparents in distant Surrey.

Clapton received an acoustic Hoyer guitar, made in Germany, for his 13th birthday, but found learning the steel-stringed instrument very difficult and nearly gave up because the action of the guitar was horrible. Despite his frustrations, he was influenced by the blues from an early age and practiced long hours to learn chords and copy the music of blues artists that he listened to on his Grundig Cub tape recorder.

After leaving school in 1961, Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. Around this time Clapton began busking around Kingston, Richmond and the West End of London.[6] When he was 17 years old Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B group, called "The Roosters". He stayed with this band from January through August 1963. In October of that year, Clapton did a brief seven gig stint with Casey Jones & The Engineers.[7]
[edit] 1960s
[edit] The Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers
Main articles: The Yardbirds and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

In 1963, Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band, and stayed with them until March 1965. Synthesizing influences from Chicago blues and leading blues guitarists such as Buddy Guy, Freddie King and B. B. King, Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene.[8] The band initially played Chess/Checker/Vee-Jay blues numbers and began to attract a large cult following when they took over the Rolling Stones' residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. They toured England with American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II; a joint LP, recorded in December 1963, was issued belatedly under both their names, in 1965. In March 1965, just as Clapton left the band, the Yardbirds had their first major hit, "For Your Love", on which Clapton played guitar.

It was during this time period that Clapton's Yardbirds rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja recalled that whenever Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing what is called a "slow handclap". Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, that, "My nickname of 'Slowhand' came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into Slowhand as a play on words".[9]

Still obstinately dedicated to blues music, Clapton was strongly offended by the Yardbirds' new pop-oriented direction, partly because, "For Your Love", had been written by pop songwriter-for-hire Graham Gouldman, who had also written hits for teen pop outfit Herman's Hermits and harmony pop band The Hollies. Clapton recommended fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement; but, Page was at that time unwilling to relinquish his lucrative career as a freelance studio musician, so Page in turn recommended Clapton's successor, Jeff Beck.[8] While Beck and Page played together in the Yardbirds, the trio of Beck, Page, and Clapton were never in the group together. However, the trio did appear on the 12-date benefit tour for Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, as well as on the album Guitar Boogie.

Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, in April 1965, only to quit a few months later. In the summer of 1965, he left for Greece with a band called The Glands which included his old friend Ben Palmer on piano. In November 1965, he rejoined John Mayall. It was during his second Bluesbreakers' stint that his passionate playing established Clapton's name as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit. Although Clapton gained world fame for his playing on the immensely influential album, Blues Breakers, this album was not released until Clapton had left the Bluesbreakers for good. Having swapped his Fender Telecaster and Vox AC30 amp for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and Marshall amplifier, Clapton's sound and playing inspired a well-publicised graffito that deified him with the famous slogan, "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a now-famous photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Clapton is well reported to have been embarrassed by the slogan, saying in The South Bank Show profile of him made in 1987, "I never accepted that I was the greatest guitar player in the world. I always wanted to be the greatest guitar player in the world, but that's an ideal, and I accept it as an ideal". The phrase began to appear in other areas of Islington throughout the mid-60s.[10]
[edit] Cream
Main article: Cream (band)

Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 (to be replaced by Peter Green) and formed Cream, one of the earliest supergroups. Cream was also one of the earliest "power trios", with Jack Bruce on bass (also of Manfred Mann, the Bluesbreakers and the Graham Bond Organization) and Ginger Baker on drums (another member of the GBO). Before the formation of Cream, Clapton was all but unknown in the United States; he left the Yardbirds before "For Your Love" hit the American Top Ten, and had yet to perform there.[11] During his time with Cream, Clapton began to develop as a singer, songwriter and guitarist, though Bruce took most of the lead vocals and wrote the majority of the material with lyricist Pete Brown.[8] Cream's first gig was an unofficial performance at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester on 29 July 1966 before their full debut two nights later at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Cream established its enduring legend with the high-volume blues jamming and extended solos of their live shows.

In early 1967, Clapton's status as Britain's top guitarist was rivaled by the emergence of Jimi Hendrix, an acid rock-infused guitarist who used wailing feedback and effects pedals to create new sounds for the instrument. Hendrix attended a performance of the newly formed Cream at the Central London Polytechnic on 1 October 1966, during which Hendrix sat in on a shattering double-timed version of "Killing Floor". In return, top UK stars including Clapton, Pete Townshend, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances. Hendrix's arrival had an immediate and major effect on the next phase of Clapton's career, although Clapton continued to be recognised in UK music polls as the premier guitarist.

Clapton first visited the United States while touring with Cream. In March 1967, Cream performed a nine show stand at the RKO Theater in New York. They recorded Disraeli Gears in New York from 11–15 May 1967. Cream's repertoire varied from soulful pop ("I Feel Free") to lengthy blues-based instrumental jams ("Spoonful"). Disraeli Gears featured Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing, and Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming. Together, Cream's talents secured themselves as an influential power trio.

In 28 months, Cream had become a commercial success, selling millions of records and playing throughout the U.S. and Europe. They redefined the instrumentalist's role in rock and were one of the first blues-rock bands to emphasize musical virtuosity and lengthy jazz-style improvisation sessions. Their U.S. hit singles include "Sunshine of Your Love" (#5, 1968), "White Room" (#6, 1968) and "Crossroads" (#28, 1969) – a live version of Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues". Though Cream was hailed as one of the greatest groups of its day, and the adulation of Clapton as a guitar hero reached new heights, the supergroup was destined to be short-lived. Drug and alcohol use escalated tension between the three members and the conflicts between Bruce and Baker eventually led to Cream's demise. A strongly critical Rolling Stone review of a concert of the group's second headlining U.S. tour was another significant factor in the trio's demise, as well as affected Clapton profoundly.[12]

Cream's farewell album, Goodbye, featured live performances recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, 19 October 1968, and was released shortly after Cream disbanded in 1968; it also featured the studio single "Badge", co-written by Clapton and George Harrison. Clapton had met Harrison and become friends with him after the Beatles shared a bill with the Clapton-era Yardbirds at the London Palladium. The close friendship between Clapton and Harrison resulted in Clapton's playing on Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the Beatles' White Album. In the same year of release as the White Album, Harrison released his solo debut Wonderwall Music, becoming the first of many Harrison solo records to feature Clapton on guitar. Though friends, Clapton would go largely uncredited for his contributions to Harrison's albums due to contractual restraints. The pair would often play live together as each other's guest. A year after Harrison's death in 2001, Clapton helped organise the tribute concert, for which he was musical director.

Cream briefly reunited in 1993 to perform at the ceremony inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; however, a full reunion took place in May 2005, with Clapton, Bruce, and Baker playing four sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall and three more at New York's Madison Square Garden that October. Recordings from the London shows were released on CD, LP, and DVD in September/December 2005.
[edit] Blind Faith & Delaney and Bonnie and Friends
Main articles: Blind Faith and Delaney and Bonnie and Friends

A desultory spell in a second super group, the short-lived Blind Faith (1969), which was composed of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood of Traffic and Ric Grech of Family, resulted in one LP and one arena-circuit tour. The super group debuted before 100,000 fans in London's Hyde Park on 7 June 1969. They later performed several dates in Scandinavia and began a sold-out American tour in July before their one and only album was released. The LP Blind Faith was recorded in such haste that side two consisted of just two songs, one of them a 15-minute jam entitled "Do What You Like". The album's jacket image of a topless pubescent girl was deemed controversial in the United States and was replaced by a photograph of the band. Blind Faith dissolved after less than seven months. While Winwood returned to Traffic, by now Clapton was tired of both the spotlight and the hype that had surrounded Cream and Blind Faith.

Clapton decided to step into the background for a time, touring as a sideman with the American group Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, who had been the support act for Blind Faith's U.S. tour. He also played two dates that fall as a member of The Plastic Ono Band, including the famous performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969, released as the album Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

Clapton became close friends with Delaney Bramlett, who encouraged him in his singing and writing. During the summer of 1969, Clapton and Bramlett contributed to the Music From Free Creek "supersession" project. Clapton, appearing as "King Cool" for contractual reasons, played with Dr. John on three songs, joined by Bramlett on one track. Jeff Beck also contributed to the sessions as "A. N. Other", though Clapton and Beck did not play together.

Using the Bramletts' backing group and an all-star cast of session players (including Leon Russell and Stephen Stills), Clapton recorded his first solo album during two brief tour hiatuses, fittingly named Eric Clapton. Delaney Bramlett co-wrote six of the songs with Clapton,[13] and Bonnie Bramlett co-wrote "Let It Rain".[14] The album also yielded the unexpected U.S. #18 hit, J. J. Cale's "After Midnight". Clapton went with Delaney and Bonnie from the stage to the studio with the Dominos to record George Harrison's All Things Must Pass in spring 1970. During this busy period, Clapton also recorded with other artists including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Billy Preston and Ringo Starr.
[edit] 1970s
[edit] Derek and the Dominos
Main article: Derek and the Dominos

"Layla"
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27 second sample of the song "Layla", as performed by Derek and the Dominos
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Taking over Delaney & Bonnie's rhythm section—Bobby Whitlock (keyboards, vocals), Carl Radle (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums)—Clapton formed a new band which was intended to counteract the "star" cult that had grown up around him and show that he could be a member of an ensemble.[15] The band was called "Eric Clapton and Friends" at first, and the name "Derek and the Dominos" was an accident, which occurred when the band's provisional name of "Eric and the Dynamos" was misread as Derek and the Dominos.[16] Clapton's biography, though, argues that Ashton told Clapton to call the band "Del and the Dominos", Del being his nickname for Clapton. Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos".[17]

Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison had brought him into contact with Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. This album contained the monster-hit single, love song "Layla", inspired by the classical poet of Persian literature, Nezami Ganjavi's The Story of Layla and Majnun, a copy of which his friend Ian Dallas had given him. The book moved Clapton profoundly as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he could not marry her[18][19].

Working at Criteria Studios in Miami with Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, who had worked with Clapton on Cream's Disraeli Gears, the band recorded a double-album. The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down several months later, drummer Jim Gordon composed and played the piano part.[17] The Layla LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd—who was also producing the Allmans—invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists met first onstage, then played all night in the studio and became friends. Duane first added his slide guitar to "Tell the Truth" on 28 August as well as "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". In four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "Key to the Highway", "Have You Ever Loved a Woman", and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad". When September came around, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band, and the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues", and "Keep on Growing". Duane returned to record "I am Yours", "Anyday", and "It's Too Late". On the 9th, they recorded Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "Thorn Tree in the Garden" was recorded.[20]
Eric Clapton in Barcelona, 1974

The album was heavily blues-influenced and featured a combination of the twin guitars of Allman and Clapton, with Allman's incendiary slide-guitar a key ingredient of the sound. Many critics would later notice that Clapton played best when in a band composed of dual guitars; working with another guitarist kept him from getting "sloppy and lazy and this was undeniably the case with Duane Allman."[17] It showcased some of Clapton's strongest material to date, as well as arguably some of his best guitar playing, with Whitlock also contributing several superb numbers, and his powerful, soul-influenced voice.[21]

Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a blistering version of "Little Wing" as a tribute to him which was added to the album. On 17 September 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the Layla album received only lukewarm reviews upon release. The shaken group undertook a U.S. tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amidst a veritable blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the surprisingly strong live double album In Concert.[22] The band had recorded several tracks for a second album in London during the spring of 1971 (five of which were released on the Eric Clapton box-set Crossroads), but the results were mediocre.

Tom Dowd and Duane Allman were not there to help them and Derek and the Dominos soon disintegrated messily in London. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on 29 October 1971. Although Radle would remain Clapton's bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), the split between Clapton and Whitlock was apparently a bitter one, and it was not until 2003 that they worked together again (Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the Later with Jools Holland show). Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer Jim Gordon, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic and years later murdered his mother during a psychotic episode. Gordon was confined to 16-years-to-life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remains today.[8]
[edit] Solo career
Yvonne Elliman with Clapton in 1975

Clapton's career successes in the 1970s were in stark contrast to his personal life, which was troubled by romantic longings and drug and alcohol addiction. In addition to his (temporarily) unrequited and intense attraction to Pattie Boyd, he withdrew from recording and touring to isolation in his Surrey, England residence. There he nursed his heroin addiction, resulting in a career hiatus interrupted only by the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 (where he passed out on stage, was revived, and continued the show).[8] In January 1973, The Who's Pete Townshend organised a comeback concert for Clapton at London's Rainbow Theatre aptly titled the "Rainbow Concert" to help Clapton kick his addiction. Clapton would return the favour by playing 'The Preacher' in Ken Russell's film version of The Who's Tommy in 1975; his appearance in the film (performing "Eyesight to the Blind") is notable as he is clearly wearing a fake beard in some shots, the result of deciding to shave off his real beard after the initial takes in an attempt to force the director to remove his earlier scene from the movie and leave the set.[17]

In 1974, now partnered with Pattie (they would not actually marry until 1979) and no longer using heroin (although starting to drink heavily), Clapton put together a more low-key touring band that included Radle, Miami guitarist George Terry, keyboardist Dick Sims, drummer Jamie Oldaker and vocalists Yvonne Elliman and Marcy Levy (better known as Marcella Detroit who later recorded in the 1980s pop duo Shakespears Sister). With this band Clapton recorded 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974), an album with an emphasis on more compact songs and fewer guitar solos; the cover-version of "I Shot The Sheriff" was Clapton's first #1 hit and was important in bringing reggae and the music of Bob Marley to a wider audience. The 1975 album There's One in Every Crowd continued the trend of 461. The album's original title The World's Greatest Guitar Player (There's One In Every Crowd) was changed before pressing, as it was felt its ironic intention would be misunderstood. The band toured the world and subsequently released the 1975 live LP, E.C. Was Here.[citation needed] Clapton continued to release albums and toured regularly. Highlights of the era include No Reason to Cry, whose collaborators included Bob Dylan and The Band, and Slowhand, which featured "Wonderful Tonight", another song inspired by Pattie Boyd, and a second J.J. Cale cover, "Cocaine".

During an August 1976 concert in Birmingham, Clapton provoked a controversy that has continued to follow him when he made pointed remarks from the stage in support of British politician Enoch Powell's efforts to restrict immigration to the UK (see below).
Clapton playing live; the Eishalle theater of Wetzikon, Switzerland, 19 June 1977
[edit] 1980s

In 1981, Clapton was invited by producer Martin Lewis to appear at the Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Clapton accepted the invitation and teamed up with Jeff Beck to perform a series of duets—reportedly their first-ever billed stage collaboration. Three of the performances were released on the album of the show and one of the songs was featured in the film of the show. The performances heralded a return to form and prominence for Clapton in the new decade. Many factors had influenced Clapton's comeback, including his "deepening commitment to Christianity", to which he had converted prior to his heroin addiction.[23][24]

After an embarrassing fishing incident, Clapton finally called his manager and admitted he was an alcoholic. In January 1982, Roger and Clapton flew to Minneapolis-St. Paul; Clapton would be checked in at Hazelden Treatment Center, located in Center City, Minnesota. On the flight over, Clapton indulged himself in a great amount of drinks, for fear he may never be able to drink again. Clapton is quoted as saying from his autobiography, "In the lowest moments of my life, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink anymore if I was dead. It was the only thing I thought was worth living for, and the idea that people were about to try and remove me from alcohol was so terrible that I drank and drank and drank, and they had to practically carry me into the clinic." [Clapton - p. 198]

After being discharged, it was recommended by doctors of Hazelden that Clapton not partake in any activities that would act as triggers for his alcoholism or stress, until he was fully situated back at Hurtwood. A few months after his discharge, Clapton began working on his next album against the Hazelden doctors' orders. Working with Tom Dowd, Clapton produced what he thought as his "most forced" album to date, Money and Cigarettes.

In 1984, he performed on Pink Floyd member Roger Waters' solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and went on tour with Waters following the release of the album. Since then Waters and Clapton have had a close relationship. In 2005 they performed together for the Tsunami Relief Fund. In 2006 they performed at the Highclere Castle, in aid of the Countryside Alliance, playing two set pieces of "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". As Clapton recovered from his addictions, his album output continued in the 1980s, including two produced with Phil Collins, 1985's Behind the Sun, which produced the hits "Forever Man" and "She's Waiting", and 1986's August.
Tina Turner and Eric Clapton at Wembley Stadium, June 18, 1987

August, a polished release that was suffused with Collins's trademark drum and horn sound, became Clapton's biggest seller in the UK to date and matched his highest chart position, number 3. The album's first track, the hit "It's In The Way That You Use It", was also featured in the Tom Cruise-Paul Newman movie The Color of Money. The horn-peppered "Run" echoed Collins' "Sussudio" and rest of the producer's Genesis/solo output, while "Tearing Us Apart" (with Tina Turner) and the bitter "Miss You" echoed Clapton's angry sound. This rebound kicked off Clapton's two-year period of touring with Collins and their August collaborates, bassist Nathan East and keyboard player/songwriter Greg Phillinganes. While on tour for August, 2 concert videos were recorded of the four-man band, Eric Clapton Live from Montreux and Eric Clapton and Friends. Despite his own earlier battles with alcoholism, Clapton remade "After Midnight" as a single and a promotional track for the Michelob beer brand, which had also marketed earlier songs by Collins and Steve Winwood. Clapton won a British Academy Television Award for his collaboration with Michael Kamen on the score for the 1985 BBC television thriller serial Edge of Darkness. In 1989, Clapton released Journeyman, an album which covered a wide range of styles including blues, jazz, soul and pop. Collaborators included George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, Chaka Khan, Mick Jones, David Sanborn and Robert Cray.
George Harrison and Eric Clapton performing for the Prince's Trust Concert at Wembley Stadium in 1987

In 1984, while still married to Pattie Boyd, Clapton began a year-long relationship with Yvonne Kelly. The two had a daughter, Ruth, in January 1985. Clapton and Kelly did not make any public announcement about the birth of their daughter, and she was not publicly revealed as his child until 1991.[25] Boyd criticized Clapton because he had not revealed the child's existence.[26]

Hurricane Hugo hit Montserrat in 1989 and this resulted in the closure of Sir George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and the myth of Eric's secret daughter began as a result of newspaper articles published at the time.[25] Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1988 following his affair with Italian model Lori Del Santo, who gave birth to their son Conor on August 21, 1986.[27] Boyd herself was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at in vitro fertilization.[26][27] Their divorce was granted on grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour."[26]
[edit] 1990s and 2000s

The 1990s brought a string of magnificent concerts to the Royal Albert Hall, Such as the 24 Nights Concerts that took place from around Jan-Feb 1990, and Feb-Mar 1991. Sadly the 1990s brought tragedy to Eric Clapton's life again. On 27 August 1990, fellow guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touring with Clapton, and two members of their road crew were killed in a helicopter crash between concerts. Then, on 20 March 1991, Conor, who was four years of age, died when he fell from the 53rd-storey window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment, landing on the roof of an adjacent four-storey building. Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which was co-written by Will Jennings. He received a total of six Grammy Awards that year for the single "Tears in Heaven" and his Unplugged album.

In October 1992, Clapton was among the dozens of artists performing at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert. Recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the live two-disk CD/DVD captured a show full of celebrities performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with a few performances from Bob Dylan himself. Despite the presence of 10 other guitarists on stage, including George Harrison, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn, Steve Cropper, Tom Petty, and Dylan, Clapton played the lead on a nearly 7-minute version of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", one of Clapton's early hit singles, as part of the finale.

While Unplugged featured Clapton playing acoustic guitar, his 1994 album From the Cradle contained new versions of old blues standards highlighted by his electric guitar playing.[28] Clapton's 1996 recording of the Wayne Kirkpatrick/Gordon Kennedy/Tommy Sims tune "Change the World" (featured in the soundtrack of the movie Phenomenon) won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1997, the same year he recorded Retail Therapy (an album of electronic music with Simon Climie under the pseudonym TDF). The following year, Clapton released the album Pilgrim, the first record featuring brand new material for almost a decade.[24] Clapton finished the twentieth century with collaborations with Carlos Santana and B. B. King.

In 1996 Clapton had a relationship with singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow. They remain friends, and Clapton appeared as a guest on Sheryl Crow's Central Park Concert. The duo performed a Cream hit single "White Room". Later, Clapton and Crow performed an alternate version of "Tulsa Time" with other guitar legends at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in June 2007.

In 1999 Clapton, then 54, met 23-year-old store clerk Melia McEnery (from Columbus, Ohio) in Los Angeles while working on an album with B. B. King. They married on January 1, 2002 at St Mary Magdalen church in Clapton's birthplace, Ripley, and as of 2005 have three daughters, Julie Rose (June 13, 2001), Ella May (January 14, 2003), and Sophie Belle (February 1, 2005). He wrote the song "Three Little Girls", featured on his 2006 album The Road to Escondido, about the contentment he has found in his family life at home with them.
Eric Clapton performing live at Hannover (Germany) in April 2, 2004

Following the release of the 2001 record Reptile, Eric performed "Layla" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the Party at the Palace in 2002. On November 29 of that year the Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall, a tribute to George Harrison who had died a year earlier of cancer. Clapton was a performer, and also the musical director. The concert featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Ravi Shankar, and others. In 2004, Clapton released two albums packed full of covers by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, Me and Mr. Johnson and Sessions for Robert J. The same year Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Clapton #53 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[29]
Clapton at Tsunami Relief Cardiff

On 22 January 2005, Clapton performed in the Tsunami Relief Concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In May 2005, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker reunited as Cream for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Concert recordings were released on CD and DVD. Later, Cream performed in New York at Madison Square Garden. Back Home, Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, was released on Reprise Records on 30 August. In 2006 he invited Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II to join his band for his 2006-2007 world tour. Trucks is the third member of The Allman Brothers Band to support Clapton, the second being pianist/keyboardist Chuck Leavell who appeared on the MTV Unplugged album and the 24 Nights performances at the Royal Albert Hall theatre of London (RAH) in 1990 and 1991, as well as Clapton's 1992 U.S. tour.

On 20 May 2006, Clapton performed with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters at the Highclere Castle, in support of the Countryside Alliance. On 13 August 2006, Clapton made a guest appearance at the Bob Dylan concert in Columbus, Ohio, playing guitar on three songs in Jimmie Vaughan's opening act.[30] A collaboration with guitarist J. J. Cale, titled The Road to Escondido, was released on 7 November 2006, featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston. The 14-track CD was produced and recorded by the duo in August 2005 in California. The chemistry between Trucks and Clapton convinced him to invite The Derek Trucks Band to open for Clapton's set on his 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival, with Trucks remaining on set afterward, performing with Clapton's band throughout his performances, and embarking on a world tour with him.

The rights to Clapton's official memoirs, written by Christopher Simon Sykes and published in 2007, were sold at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair for USD $4 million.[31]

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Clapton is currently working on an album with Robbie Robertson. Robertson performed with Clapton at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, where they played their version of the Bo Diddley song "Who Do You Love". On 28 January 2008 Eric Clapton was announced as the headliner for the Saturday night of Hard Rock Calling 2008 in London's Hyde Park (previously Hyde Park Calling) with support from Sheryl Crow & John Mayer.[32] On February 26, 2008, it was reported that North Korean officials had invited Clapton to play a concert in the communist state.[33] According to reports, Clapton's management received the invitation and passed it on to the singer, who has agreed in principle and suggested it take place sometime in 2009.[34] Clapton's management, however, have so far refused to confirm if this is the case. If the invitation does exist, and Clapton accepts, he will be the first western rock star to play there.

Clapton's 2008 Summer Tour began on the 3rd of May at the Ford Amphitheatre,Tampa Bay, Florida, and then moved to Canada, Ireland, England, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Germany and Monaco.
Eric Clapton (4th from left) and his band live in 2007

In 2007, Clapton learned more about his father, a Canadian soldier who left the UK after the war. Although Clapton's grandparents eventually told him the truth about his parentage, he only knew that his father's name was Edward Fryer. This was a source of disquiet for Clapton, as witnessed by his 1998 song "My Father's Eyes". A Montreal journalist named Michael Woloschuk researched Canadian Armed Forces service records and tracked down members of Fryer's family, finally piecing together the story. He learned that Clapton's father was Edward Walter Fryer, born 21 March 1920, in Montreal and died 15 May 1985 in Newmarket, Ontario. Fryer was a musician (piano and saxophone) and a lifelong drifter, who was married several times, had several children and apparently never knew that he was the father of Eric Clapton.[35] Clapton thanked Woloschuk in an encounter at Macdonald Cartier Airport, in Ottawa, Canada.[36]

In February 2008, Clapton performed with his long-time friend Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden and guested on his recorded single "Dirty City" on Winwood's album Nine Lives. The two former Blind Faith bandmates met again for a series of 14 concerts throughout the United States in June 2009. In September 2008, Clapton performed at a private charity fundraiser for The Countryside Alliance at Floridita in Soho, London, that included such guests as the London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Clapton performing with The Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theater

March, 2009 found Clapton performing with The Allman Brothers Band (amongst other notable guests), celebrating their 40th year, in tribute to the late Duane Allman on their annual run at the Beacon Theater, with Butch Trucks commenting that "this performance wasn't the typical Allman Brothers experience, given the number and differences of the guests who were invited to perform. "Eric Clapton taught us!", Trucks said. Songs like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", were punctuated with others, such as "The Weight", with Levon Helm; Johnny Winter sitting in on Hendrix's "Red House" and of course, "Layla".

Clapton was scheduled to be one of the performers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert in Madison Square Garden on October 30, 2009, but cancelled due to gallstone surgery.[37] Van Morrison (who also cancelled)[38] said in an interview that he and Clapton were to do a "couple of songs" but that they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".[39] Clapton is also set to perform a 2-night show with Jeff Beck at London's O2 Arena in February 13-14, 2010. The two former Yardbirds bandmates have now extended their 2010 tour with stops at Madison Square Garden, Air Canada Center and the Bell Center in Montreal.[40] Clapton will begin a series of concerts throughout 11 cities in the United States from February 25 to March 13, 2010 before his third European tour with Steve Winwood between May 18 and June 13.
[edit] Influences

Clapton has performed songs by myriad artists, which include Bob Marley, J.J. Cale, Bo Diddley, Robert Johnson, and Bob Dylan. He cites Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin both in musical influence and on his style on the guitar.

He holds no other artist in higher esteem than Robert Johnson. In 2004, Clapton released a CD and DVD entitled, "Sessions for Robert Johnson", featuring Clapton recording Robert Johnson covers with electric and acoustic guitars. He performs these tracks live and in the practice space on the DVD, as well as gives brief interviews explaining the huge influence Robert Johnson had on him. Doyle Bramhall II assists Clapton on the acoustic tracks of the CD and the DVD.

In his book, Discovering Robert Johnson (which he co-authored with several other writers), Clapton said of Johnson, that he was "...the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice, really. ... it seemed to echo something I had always felt."[41] Clapton persuaded Freddie King to sign with his record label, RSO in 1974. Clapton has recorded more than six of J. J. Cale's originals and has put out an album with him. Clapton has also collaborated with Frank Zappa, B.B. King, George Harrison, Santana, Ringo Starr, Roger Waters, John Lennon, and The Plastic Ono Band. Clapton also collaborated with singer/songwriter John Mayer on his 2006 album release, Continuum. Mayer cites Clapton in his liner notes, Eric Clapton knows I steal from him and is still cool with it. Clapton inspired Mayer to write "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)", resembling characteristics of Clapton's musical and fashion style.[citation needed]

A few guitarists that Clapton has influenced are: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, Derek Trucks,[42] Eddie Van Halen, John Mayer, and Alex Lifeson.
[edit] Guitars
Clapton on the There's One In Every Crowd Tour, on 15 August 1975 with "Blackie"

Clapton's choice of electric guitars has been as notable as the man himself, and alongside Hank Marvin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, Clapton exerted a crucial and widespread influence in popularising particular models of the electric guitar.[43] With the Yardbirds, Clapton played a Fender Telecaster, a Fender Jazzmaster, a double-cutaway Gretsch 6120 and a 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335. He became exclusively a Gibson player for a period beginning in mid-1965, when he purchased a used Gibson Les Paul Sunburst Standard guitar from a local guitar store in London. Clapton commented on the slim profile of the neck, which would indicate it as a 1960 model.[44]

Early during his stint in Cream, Clapton's first Les Paul Standard was stolen. He continued to play Les Pauls exclusively with Cream (one bought from Andy Summers was almost identical to the stolen guitar)[45] until 1967 when he acquired his most famous guitar in this period, a 1964 Gibson SG.[46] Just before Cream's first U.S. appearance in 1967, Clapton's SG, Bruce's Fender VI, and Baker's drum head were all repainted in psychedelic designs created by the visual art collective known as The Fool. In 1968 Clapton bought a Gibson Firebird and started using the 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335 again.[46] The aforementioned 1964 ES-335 had a storied career. Clapton used it at the last Cream show in November 1968 as well as with Blind Faith, played sparingly for slide pieces in the 1970s, heard on Hard Times from Journeyman, the Hyde Park live concert of 1996 and the From the Cradle sessions and tour of 1994/95. It was sold for $847,500 at the 2004 auction.[47] Gibson produced a limited run of 250 "Crossroads 335" replicas. The 335 was only the second electric guitar Clapton bought.[48]

In July 1968, Clapton gave George Harrison a red, refinished Les Paul. In the following September, Clapton played the guitar on the Beatles' studio recording of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". His SG found its way into the hands of George Harrison's friend Jackie Lomax, who subsequently sold it to musician Todd Rundgren for US$500 in 1972. Rundgren restored the guitar and nicknamed it "Sunny", after "Sunshine of Your Love". He retained it until 2000, when he sold it at an auction for US$150,000.[46] At the 1969 Blind Faith concert in Hyde Park, London Clapton played a Fender Custom Telecaster, which was fitted with Brownie's neck.

In late 1969, Clapton made the switch to the Fender Stratocaster. "I had a lot of influences when I took up the Strat. First there was Buddy Holly, and Buddy Guy. Hank Marvin was the first well known person over here in England who was using one, but that wasn't really my kind of music. Steve Winwood had so much credibility, and when he started playing one, I thought, oh, if he can do it, I can do it."[49] First was "Brownie" used during the recording of Eric Clapton which in 1974 became the backup to the most famous of all Clapton's guitars, "Blackie". In November 1970 Eric bought six Fender Stratocasters from the Sho-bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour with the Dominos. He gave one each to George Harrison, Steve Winwood and Pete Townshend.

Clapton assembled the best components of the remaining three to create "Blackie", which was his favourite stage guitar until its retirement in 1985. It was first played live January 13, 1973 at the Rainbow Concert.[50] Clapton called the 1956/57 Strat a "mongrel".[51] On 24 June 2004, Clapton sold "Blackie" at Christie's Auction House, New York for $959,500 to raise funds for his Crossroads Centre for drug and alcohol addictions. "Brownie" is now on display at the Experience Music Project.[52] The Fender Custom Shop has since produced a limited run of 275 'Blackie' replicas, correct in every detail right down to the 'Duck Brothers' flight case, and artificially aged using Fender's 'Relic' process to simulate years of hard wear. One was presented to Eric upon the model's release.[53]

In 1971, Clapton gave a signed guitar to the Hard Rock Café's to designate his favourite bar stool. Pete Townshend also donated one of his own guitars, with a note attached: "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete."

In 1988, Fender honored Clapton with the introduction of his signature Eric Clapton Stratocaster.[54] These were the first two artist models in the Stratocaster range and since then, the artist series has grown to include models inspired both by Clapton's contemporaries such as Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, and by those who have influenced him such as Buddy Guy. Clapton uses Ernie Ball Slinky and Super Slinky strings.[55] Clapton has also been honoured with signature-model 000-28EC and 000-42EC acoustic guitars made by the famous American firm of C.F. Martin & Co..[54] His 1939 000-42 Martin that he played on the Unplugged album sold for $791,500 at auction.[47] Clapton plays a custom 000-ECHF Martin these days.

In 1999, Clapton auctioned off some of his guitar collection to raise more than $5 million for continuing support of the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which he founded in 1997.[56] The Crossroads Centre is a treatment base for addictive disorders such as drugs and alcohol. In 2004, Clapton organized and participated in the Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit the Centre. A second guitar auction, including the "Cream" of Clapton's collection – as well as guitars donated by famous friends – was also held on 24 June 2004. His Lowden acoustic guitar sold for $41,825. The total revenue garnered by this auction at Christie's was US $7,438,624.[47]
[edit] "Woman tone"

The "woman tone" is the informal term used by guitarists to refer to Eric Clapton's distinctive mid- to late-1960s electric guitar sound, created using his Gibson SG solidbody guitar (with humbucking pickups) and a Marshall tube (valve) amplifier. It is an overdriven, distorted sound that is articulate yet thick. It is characterized by being quite distorted (or even achieved with a fuzz) but muted, in contrast to the bright and twangy distortion that most guitarists were using at the time. Many players have tried to duplicate it, usually without success, in part because Clapton's playing technique had a lot to do with the tone, and also because it required heavily overdriven tube amps to achieve.

Among the techniques used to replicate Clapton's sound is a technique by which the amplifier's volume is turned up to full, while the guitar's tone knob is turned down to zero or one. [1]

Perhaps the best examples of the "woman tone" are Clapton's famous riff and solo from his band Cream's 1967 hit "Sunshine of Your Love." Clapton has explained that he obtained the tone with his Gibson's tone control rolled all the way down, switching to the neck pickup (closest to the fretboard) and the volume all the way up, with his distortion turned all the way up. The treble, mids and bass controls on the amplifier were also maxed out. Some versions of the "woman tone" may also have involved strategic positioning of Clapton's wah-wah pedal.