Eric Clapton, The #87 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

Clapton and Jeff Beck performed together at The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in London.  Clapton then checked into the Hazelden Treatment Center in Minnesota.  Eric began working on his next album, which was released under the title Money and Cigarettes.

 

In 1985, Clapton released the album Behind the Sun, produced by Phil Collins.  "Forever Man" stalled at #26, but it did reach #1 with the much smaller Rock audience.

Collins returned in 1986 to produce the Clapton album August.  The first single was "It's In The Way That You Use It", which was featured in the movie The Color of Money and gave Clapton another #1 Rock hit.

Clapton, Collins, bassist Nathan East and keyboardist Greg Phillinganes toured for two years, with videos of the performances released as Eric Clapton Live from Montreux and Eric Clapton and Friends.

 

In 1989, Clapton released the album Journeyman.  "Bad Love" won a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and a Billboard Music Award for Best Rock Tracks Artist.

In 1990 and 1991, Eric performed 32 concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.  But on March 20, Clapton's son, four-year-old Conor, died after falling from a 53rd-floor window of his mother's friend's apartment in New York City.

Eric wrote the song "Tears In Heaven" as an expression of his grief and it became his biggest career hit, going to #1 in Canada, #2 in the United States and #5 in the U.K. and selling over two million copies. 

 

Clapton released the live album Unplugged, which included an acoustic version of "Layla", a song he had recorded with Derek & the Dominoes.  "Layla" raced to #1 in Canada and #9 in the U.S.  

Clapton won six Grammy Awards among 10 nominations for the song and his Unplugged album (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Tears In Heaven" and Best Rock Song for "Layla".  He also captured a World Music Award for Best-Selling Rock Artist of the Year.

Unplugged reached #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K. and has sold over 10 million copies.  "Tears In Heaven" also captured Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globe Awards.

In 1994, Clapton released the album From the Cradle.  He won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album (also nominated for Album of the Year) and a special Billboard Music Award for Artistic Excellence.

The following year, he teamed with Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Cher and Neneh Cherry in the song "Love Can Build A Bridge", with proceeds going to the charity telethon Comic Relief.

Clapton released the single "Change The World" from the movie Phenomenon, which won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.  He also recorded the album Retail Therapy under the pseudonym TDF, with the song "SRV Shuffle" winning another Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

 

In 1997, Eric released the album Pilgrim, the first new album of new material he had recorded in nearly 10 years.  Clapton captured a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "My Father's Eyes" while Pilgrim was nominated for Best Pop Album.

Eric released the compilation album Clapton Chronicles:  The Best of Eric Clapton in 1999.  The following year, Clapton collaborated with Santana on the song "The Calling" from Santana's masterpiece album Supernatural, which won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Clapton worked with B.B. King on the album Riding with the King in 2000, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album.

In 2001, Clapton was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and released the studio album Reptile.  Clapton won another Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the title song, while "Superman Inside" was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

The following year, he performed at the Party at the Palace concert outside Buckingham Palace in London.

In 2003, Clapton's song "I Shot The Sheriff" was accepted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 2004, Clapton released the albums Me and Mr. Johnson and Sessions for Robert J., covers of songs by Robert Johnson.  The former earned two more Grammy nominations for Best Traditional Blues Album and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the song "Something".  

In 2005, Eric performed at the Tsunami Relief Concert in Cardiff to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.  He joined old mates Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to reunite for several Cream concerts.  

Clapton released the album Back Home later that year, which earned him another Grammy nomination for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "Revolution".  Eric was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.

In 2008, Eric won another Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Road to Escondido.

Clapton continued to tour extensively, making appearances with artists such as Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood and members of the Allman Brothers Band.  He released the album Clapton in 2010 and toured the U.S. and Europe in 2013 to celebrate his 50-years as a professional musician.

In 2013, Eric released the album The Breeze:  An Appreciation of JJ Cale.  Clapton performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City and during a seven-night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2015.  

Clapton released the albums I Still Do in 2016 and the Christmas album Happy Xmas in 2018.

In 2020, Clapton was in favor of allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to kill as many people around the world as possible.  He was nonetheless inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Eric has collected 20 career hits, with 6 of those reaching the Top 10 and one #1 song.

Clapton has won 18 Grammy Awards among 38 nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, one World Music Award and one MTV Video Music Award out of six nominations.