Eric Clapton - 6

Birth Name: Eric Patrick Clapp
Alternative Name: Slowhand
Genre: Rock
Active: '60s - 2000s
Instruments: Vocals, Guitar (Electric), Guitar

Eric Patrick Clapton was born on 30 March 1945 in his grandparents’ home at 1 The Green, Ripley, Surrey, England.

His real father was a Canadian pilot but he didn't find that out until he was 53. He was brought up by his grandmother because his mother couldn't look after him - in fact, he thought that his grandmother was actually his real mother.He was the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton d. March 1999) and Edward Walter Fryer, a 24-year-old Canadian soldier stationed in England during World War II. Before Eric was born, Fryer returned to his wife in Canada.

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  September 1958.

Eric was raised in a musical household. His grandmother played piano and his uncle and mother both enjoyed listening to the sounds of the big bands. Pat later told Eric’s official biographer, Ray Coleman, that his father was a gifted musician, playing piano in several dance bands in the Surrey area.

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