With a recording career spanning five decades and a rep as one of the greatest guitarists to ever tread the planet, Eric Clapton looms large among music fans and musicians. Here at last is the first complete illustrated history of Claptons career, from the Yardbirds in the early 1960s, up to the present. A chronological text covers all of Claptons associated acts as well as his collaborations with artists like George Harrison, John Lennon, Frank Zappa, B.B. King, Jeff Beck, and more. Details of his personal life that have informed his music-such as his romance with Harrisons then-wife Pattie Boyd, his well-publicized battles with addiction, and his subsequent founding of the Crossroads Centre-are also examined. A wealth of sidebars cover the gear Clapton has used through the years while extensive appendices detail his discography. The story is illustrated throughout with candid and performance photography, as well as memorabilia spanning Claptons entire career.