Eric Clapton has been idolized for his career as a guitarist over the past six decades. Although Clapton has lived a full life as a musician his personal life had a much rougher start. When Eric was just 9 years old he found out that his biological mother was his sister and his parents were actually his grandparents.
Clapton’s real mother, Patricia Molly Clapton was just 16 years old when she had the guitarist. Since she was too young to raise a child, Patricia’s mother and stepfather agreed to raise Eric as their own. So they told him that Eric was their son and his mother Patricia was his older sister.
Even after the guitarist learned the truth about his life story, he decided to continue to stay with his grandparents while Patricia remained his older sister. So when Eric was asked in an interview with Stern Magazine in 1998 about the father he never knew and his grandparents whom he considered to be his parents, the guitarist replied:
“Yes, that’s still haunting me. I’m jealous of people who are raised in close family ties. Even if they are quarrelling all the time at least there’s someone when they get home in the evening.”
Considering his traumatic childhood, Eric also revealed in his interview that he has always correlated his unsuccessful relationships with women to his past experiences with his broken family. He explained:
“I’ve had quite a few failed relationships behind me. Somehow I’m not able to bind a woman.”
He added:
“It’s tied to my unfortunate relationship with my mother and grandmother and my first sexual experiences. I’ve gotten used to being lonely, but I still feel this longing for a woman.”
You can read Eric Clapton’s 1998 interview with Stern Magazine here.
