Eric Clapton fused blues roots with psychedelic rock, grounding his style in early blues masters like Johnson, Waters, and Guy, before evolving through The Yardbirds and Cream.

From The Yardbirds to John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Cream, Clapton’s path shows how the blues shaped his approach even as he helped pioneer 1960s psychedelic pop-rock.

A defining moment came when he watched Big Bill Broonzy perform Hey Hey on TV, a vision that felt like looking into Heaven and propelled him toward a life in music.

Throughout his career, Clapton remained a bluesman at heart, with the genre’s influence visible across decades and into late-era projects such as 2024’s To Save a Child: An Intimate Live Concert.

His pursuit of the blues origins contributed to massive commercial success, with total record sales well in excess of 200 million.

He identified with Broonzy’s Key to the Highway as a blueprint for a traveling musician, a thread echoed in later interpretations with Derek and the Dominos on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.