Eric Clapton is now struggling to play the guitar because of damage to his nervous system.
Published: Sun 12 Jun 2016, 11:38 AM
Last updated: Sun 12 Jun 2016, 2:10 PM
Guitar icon Eric Clapton has revealed in an interview with Classic Rock magazine that nerve damage has made it difficult for him to play the guitar.
The 71-year-old said that although he is grateful to be alive, he has been debilitated by his illness.
"I've had quite a lot of pain over the last year .It started with lower back pain and turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy, which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg. "[It's] hard work to play the guitar, and I've had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old," he told Classic Rock magazine.
Despite these setbacks, the rocker remains prolific, recently releasing "I Still Do," his 23rd solo album. He even expressed surprise at his own longevity.
Read: Eric Clapton to quit touring
He adds:
"And I've had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old."
Despite his affliction, the 71-year-old rock legend says that he's grateful to be alive after kicking an addiction to heroin that nearly killed him.
"Because I'm in recovery from alcoholism and addiction to substances, I consider it a great thing to be alive at all. By rights I should have kicked the bucket a long time ago. For some reason I was plucked from the jaws of hell and given another chance," he said.
Stories behind 10 of Eric Clapton's hits
Adam Zacharias combs through the stories behind 10 of Eric Clapton's biggest hits
SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE (1968)
Clapton wrote this song with his Cream bandmate Jack Bruce and poet Pete Brown for the group's seminal second album Disraeli Gears. Clapton and Bruce were inspired to write the song after seeing a Jimi Hendrix gig in London. In turn, Hendrix went on to add the track to his setlist - famously cutting off a rendition of Hey Joe on the TV show Happening with Lulu in 1969 to play his raucous take on Sunshine of Your Love.
WHITE ROOM (1968)
White Room gave Cream their second and final US top 10 hit after Sunshine of Your Love, and was taken from their double album Wheels on Fire. Despite much debate as to the song's meaning, lyricist Pete Brown (pictured here in 2011) has conceded that the song was "me writing a monologue about a new flat". However, Brown also stated that the song's themes of isolation and pessimism did reflect his state of mind at the time.
LAYLA (1971)
A rock classic, with one of the most famous riffs ever to boot, Layla sees a man being driven to madness desiring a woman he can't have. Clapton first released the song with blues band Derek and the Dominoes, and his acoustic version from 1992's Unplugged album also became a hit more than two decades later. The track, which has a piano instrumental by Jim Gordon added to the end, was inspired by a tale from classical Persian literature of Majnun and his unrequited love for Layla - a situation Clapton knew all too well after falling for Pattie Boyd (pictured), the wife of Beatles guitarist George Harrison.
I SHOT THE SHERIFF (1974)
Clapton's cover of Bob Marley's controversial reggae track remains his only number one solo single to date in either the US or the UK - topping the American charts the year after Marley released his original composition. The guitarist was unsure whether to release his version as a single, as he was worried Marley might be interpret it as an attempt to steal the limelight. "I tried to ask him what the song was all about, but couldn't understand much of his reply. I was just relieved that he liked what we had done," Clapton later revealed.
WONDERFUL TONIGHT (1977)
Like Layla, this was another song written by Clapton about model Pattie Boyd (who also inspired the Harrison-penned Beatles song Something). Unlike Layla, Wonderful Tonight is a contented ballad detailing preparations for a night out with Boyd - who had divorced Harrison and moved in with Clapton by this point. The pair would go on to marry in 1979, split in 1984 and divorce in 1988.
LAY DOWN SALLY (1977)
Clapton co-wrote Lay Down Sally with US singer Marcella Detroit, who went on to create the poorly spelled pop duo Shakespears Sister (tallying a whopping eight weeks at UK number one with the single Stay in 1992). The country-flecked Sally his since become a karaoke favourite and has been covered by Rod Stewart.
BAD LOVE (1989)
Arguably yet another song inspired by Pattie Boyd, Bad Love won the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. Clapton conceived the rock track quickly after his record label Warner Bros asked for another hit in the style of Layla. Mick Jones (pictured) from rock band Foreigner (who was then married to the mother of future star DJ-producer Mark Ronson) helped finalise the song's structure, and Phil Collins played drums in the studio recording.
TEARS IN HEAVEN (1992)
One of Clapton's signature songs, Tears in Heaven came about after the accidental death of his four-year-old son Conor. The youngster, the result of a brief relationship with Italian actress Lory Del Santo, died when he fell out of the window of his mother's friend's 53rd floor New York apartment in 1991. The tune's co-writer Will Jennings also helped pen tracks including My Heart Will Go On and Up Where We Belong. Almost a decade after retiring the song from his live shows, Clapton has recently reintroduced it to his setlist.
CHANGE THE WORLD (1996)
R&B star Babyface provided backing vocals and produced this mellow track, which was included on the soundtrack to the supernatural John Travolta film Phenomenon. Clapton revealed that he brought in Babyface to work on the track after being impressed by his ability to mix the minimal with the powerful. "When I heard the song, I put it on in my car and was driving around listening to it about 200 times without stopping. And I just knew it was a hit," said Clapton.
MY FATHER'S EYES (1998)
This Grammy-winning song deals with Clapton's difficult family history. He was born in Surrey, England in 1945 to 16-year-old Patricia Clapton and 25-year-old Edward Fryer. Fryer went off to war prior to Eric's birth and then returned to his Canadian homeland, never meeting his son. Much like actor Jack Nicholson, Clapton grew up believing his grandparents were his parents, and his mother was his older sister. He discovered the truth aged 53. My Father's Eyes was also prompted by the death of his own son Conor in 1991. "I never met my father and I realised that the closest I ever came to looking into my father's eyes was when I looked into my son's eyes," Clapton said.
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