Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival is returning after a four-year hiatus. In a recent video he posted on his official Instagram account, the guitarist addressed the festival and shared how he lost his community due to the pandemic.
The musician explained:
“Well, to cut it short, there was the pandemic; there was the lockdown, and for people that wanted to get wealth from alcohol or drugs or anything, it was a tough time because the normal network of AA meetings was pretty much off limits.”
Reflecting more on how the pandemic affected alcohol treatment, he continued:
“Some of them were shut down completely, and some kept going in a skeletal fashion, but the treatment centers were really badly hit because people couldn’t travel, and they were very fearful of going out.
So they locked themselves voluntarily down. A lot of people, and I think a lot of the community that I know, either died or dropped off or stopped going to meetings as it was just too risky.”
The Crossroads Guitar Festival aims to support the Crossroads Centre—an Antigua-based drug treatment facility that he himself founded. In the same interview, Clapton named the rehabilitation center as one of his three legacies, saying:
“So, those three things. Yeah, my family and the Treatment Center and music [are my legacy]. Yeah, they all come together because my wife’s become very involved in a turn-up for recovery, which is a kind of amalgamation. Oh, yes, yes! That’s my legacy.”
The upcoming festival is scheduled to take place on September 23 and 24 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The lineup for this year’s festival includes musicians such as ZZ Top, Santana, Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, and the John Mayer Trio.
You can watch the video he posted here.
