Family



Eric Patrick Clapton was born in 1945 in his grandparents’ home in England. He’s mom was 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton. It was extraordinarily difficult for an unmarried 16-year-old to raise a child on her own in the mid-1940s, so Pat’s parents, Rose and Jack Clapp, stepped in as surrogate parents and raised Eric as their own. Thus, he grew up believing his mother was his sister. His grandparents never legally adopted him, but remained his legal guardians until 1963. Eric’s last name comes from Rose’s first husband and Pat’s father, Reginald Cecil Clapton. Eric’s mother, Pat, eventually married and moved to Canada and Germany as her husband, Frank MacDonald, continued his military career. They had two girls and a boy. Eric’s half-brother, Brian, was killed in a road accident in 1974 at the age of 26. His half-sisters are Cheryl and Heather.

Eric married his first wife, Pattie Boyd Harrison on 27 March 1979, but it ended with a devorce. Eric is today married again with Melia. The couple married on 1 January 2002. He and his wife, Melia, have three daughters - Julie Rose, Ella Mace and Sophie. They also had a son, Conor that was born August 1986, and died 1991 when he fell from a window in his mother's apartment. Eric also have a girl from his last marriage. She is his oldest child, Ruth.

To cope with the sorrow, Clapton wrote a song about the loss of his son. The song is named tears in heaven and is well known world wide. Click on the link to see the lyrics and hear the song, tears in heaven.

Down under you can se a photostory that we have created.

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