Tragedy again
In 1984, while still married to Pattie Boyd, Clapton began a year-long relationship with Yvonne Kelly; they had a daughter, Ruth, born in January 1985. Clapton and Kelly did not make any public announcement about the birth of their daughter, and she was not publicly revealed as his child until 1991, at the funeral of his son Conor. Boyd did not know of the existence of Ruth until 1991: "What cut deepest was that Eric had known about the child all along. While declaring undying love to me and pleading with me to go back to him, he had been paying Yvonne maintenance for the past six years."
Hurricane Hugo hit Montserrat in 1989 and this resulted in the closure of Sir George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and the myth of Eric's secret daughter was born as a result of newspaper articles published at the time.
Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 following his affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to their son Conor in August 1986. Boyd herself was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at in vitro fertilization. Their divorce was granted in 1989 on grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour."
The early 1990s saw tragedy enter Clapton's life again on two occasions. On 27 August 1990, good friend and fellow guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touring with Clapton, and two members of their road crew were killed in a helicopter crash between concerts. This marked the third iconic guitarist who was also Clapton's good friend to be killed, the first being Jimi Hendrix in 1970, the second being Duane Allman just over a year later in 1971, and the third being Vaughan. All three, along with Clapton himself, are known as some of the greatest guitarists to ever live. Then, on 20 March 1991 at 11:00AM, Conor, who was four years of age, died when he fell from the 53rd-story window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment, landing on the roof of an adjacent four-story building. Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven" (on the soundtrack to the 1991 movie Rush). The song was co-written by Will Jennings. He received a total of six Grammys that year for the single "Tears in Heaven" and the Unplugged album.
Return To Musical career and personal life
Hurricane Hugo hit Montserrat in 1989 and this resulted in the closure of Sir George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and the myth of Eric's secret daughter was born as a result of newspaper articles published at the time.
Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 following his affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to their son Conor in August 1986. Boyd herself was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at in vitro fertilization. Their divorce was granted in 1989 on grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour."
The early 1990s saw tragedy enter Clapton's life again on two occasions. On 27 August 1990, good friend and fellow guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touring with Clapton, and two members of their road crew were killed in a helicopter crash between concerts. This marked the third iconic guitarist who was also Clapton's good friend to be killed, the first being Jimi Hendrix in 1970, the second being Duane Allman just over a year later in 1971, and the third being Vaughan. All three, along with Clapton himself, are known as some of the greatest guitarists to ever live. Then, on 20 March 1991 at 11:00AM, Conor, who was four years of age, died when he fell from the 53rd-story window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment, landing on the roof of an adjacent four-story building. Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven" (on the soundtrack to the 1991 movie Rush). The song was co-written by Will Jennings. He received a total of six Grammys that year for the single "Tears in Heaven" and the Unplugged album.
Return To Musical career and personal life
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