Eric Clapton celebrates a milestone birthday this Sunday when he turns 80.
The three-time member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — with The Yardbirds, Cream and as a solo artist — was born Eric Patrick Clapton in Ripley, England on March 30th, 1945 and raised by his grandparents. He never knew his father, and was a teenager when he learned that the woman he believed to be his sister was, in fact, his mother.
He first came to prominence as a member of The Yardbirds before going on to play with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and then Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. That was followed by Blind Faith with Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker, and then it was on to Derek and the Dominos before embarking on a solo career in 1970.
A recovering alcoholic and drug abuser, Clapton opened the Crossroads rehab facility on the Caribbean island of Antigua in the late '90s, and has done many charitable appearances to fund it.
He is married for the second time, having said "I do" to American Melia McEnery in 2001. They have three daughters, and he has a fourth daughter from a previous relationship. Eric's four-year-old son Conor died in 1991 after falling out of a New York apartment window.
In 2004, Clapton was made Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.
Still going strong, he starts a an eight-night residency at the Budokan in Tokyo on April 14th, followed by dates in England, Italy and France in May, and six in the U.S. in September.