As one of the most talked-about figures, Eric Clapton has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.
What is Eric Clapton's Net Worth?
(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Eric Clapton was born Eric Patrick Clapton on March 30, 1945, in Ripley, Surrey, England. When he was born, his mother, Patricia, was just 16 years old, and his father, Edward, was a 24-year-old Canadian soldier who Eric had never met. As a child, Clapton was told that Patricia was his sister and that her mother and stepfather were Eric's parents. When Patricia later married and moved to Germany, she left Clapton in England with his grandparents. Eric learned how to play guitar as a teenager after receiving one as a birthday gift, and his skills were so impressive that he was performing in pubs with fellow musicianDave Brockby the age of 16. He joined a British R&B group, the Roosters, at 17 and performed with them until August 1963; later that year, he played several gigs with Casey Jones & the Engineers. Clapton attended the Kingston College of Art but was expelled after his first year.
In 1974, Eric put together a touring band and recorded the album "461 Ocean Boulevard," which included his first #1 hit, a cover ofBob Marley's"I Shot the Sheriff." He took a break from music in 1982 to go to rehab and started working on the album " Money and Cigarettes" a few months after being discharged. In the 1980s, Clapton began composing film scores, winning a BAFTA Award for 1985's "Edge of Darkness" score. In 1992, he was nominated for nine Grammys, winning six (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, and Best Rock Song), and released the "Unplugged" album, which was certified Diamond after selling 10 million copies. In 2000, Eric collaborated with blues legendB.B. Kingon the album "Riding with the King," which reached #1 on the US Top Blues Albums chart and #3 on the "Billboard" 200; the album also won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. In Clapton's long career, he has played more than 3,000 concerts in nearly 60 countries, and though he retired from worldwide touring in 2015, he continues to make new music, and he celebrated his 70th birthday with shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden and London's Royal Albert Hall.
Eric has obviously earned the bulk of his fame and fortune through his music career, but he also has significant real estate, art, and vehicle assets. His car collection, which features some extremely rare Ferraris, is easily worth $50 million, perhaps $100 million. It's extremely difficult to put a value on his art collection, but consider this anecdote – in 2001, he paid $3.4 million for three Gerhard Richter paintings. He eventually sold them off one by one for a total of $77.3 million.
With more than 100 million album sales, Eric is one of the best-selling musicians in history, and his 21 solo studio albums (most of which have been certified gold or higher) have spawned hits such as "After Midnight," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Wonderful Tonight," and the Grammy-winning acoustic version of "Layla." Clapton has won dozens of awards for his work, including 17 Grammys, and he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2004, and a Commandeur de Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2017.
Eric marriedPattie Boyd, who was previously married to his friendGeorge Harrison, on March 27, 1979, and they divorced in 1989. Clapton has admitted that he abused Boyd, and he fathered two children with other women during the marriage; daughter Ruth was born in 1985, and son Conor was born in 1986. Sadly, 4-year-old Conor passed away on March 20, 1991, after falling out of an open window in a 53rd-floor apartment; Eric wrote the song "Tears in Heaven" about the tragedy. Clapton married Melia McEnery on January 1, 2002, and they have three daughters together: Julie (born in June 2001), Ella (born in January 2003), and Sophie (born in February 2005).
Eric joined the Yardbirds in October 1963 and stayed with the band until March 1965, leaving on the day the band released their first big hit, "For Your Love." In April 1965, Clapton joinedJohn Mayall& the Bluesbreakers, left a few months later, rejoined the band in November, and quit again in July 1966. After leaving the Bluesbreakers, Eric joined Cream and released six albums and several hit singles with them, including "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room," before Cream disbanded in 1968. The following year, he formed Blind Faith withSteve Winwood,Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech, but the band was only together for seven months. Clapton then formed Derek and the Dominos, releasing "Layla," which would become one of his most popular songs, in 1970; the group disbanded in 1971 during the recording of their second album.
Eric Clapton, CBE, is a British rock musician who has a net worth of $450 million. Ranked #53 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's Top 100 Artists Of All-Time list and #2 on their list of the greatest guitarists, Clapton is a blues-rock guitarist, composer, singer, and songwriter who has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (as a solo artist and with the Yardbirds and Cream).
Ultimately, Eric Clapton's financial journey is a testament to their success.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.
