Editing Eric Clapton (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:The Yardbirds (1998) - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame handprints (2014 photograph).jpg|thumb|right|Clapton's handprints (far right) with other members of [[the Yardbirds]] at the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]]]
Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.<ref name=AST/><ref name=Meisel>[[Perry Meisel|Meisel, Perry]] (2010) [https://books.google.com/books?id=igLwTjrIpMEC&pg=PA143 The myth of popular culture from Dante to Dylan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810044804/https://books.google.com/books?id=igLwTjrIpMEC&pg=PA143 |date=10 August 2023 }} p.143. Retrieved 30 December 2010</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3356959.stm|title=Eric Clapton: Blues guitar legend|publisher=BBC|access-date=22 September 2014|date=31 December 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809002346/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3356959.stm|archive-date=9 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPmuwEWoqyMC&q=Eric+Clapton+important+guitarist&pg=PA58 |title=Real Blues Guitar |first=Kenn |last=Chipkin |page=58 |publisher=Alfred Music Publishing, 1998 |access-date=15 January 2011 |isbn=978-0-89898-579-5 |date=March 1998 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810044804/https://books.google.com/books?id=wPmuwEWoqyMC&q=Eric+Clapton+important+guitarist&pg=PA58 |url-status=live }}</ref> Clapton is the only [[List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees#Multiple inductees|three-time inductee]] to the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of [[the Yardbirds]] and [[Cream (band)|Cream]].<ref name="Rock Hall">{{cite web|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/eric-clapton/|title=Eric Clapton Biography – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum|publisher=Rockhall.com|access-date=22 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012231539/http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/eric-clapton/|archive-date=12 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> He ranked second in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"<ref name="RS">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123/eric-clapton-20111122|title=100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time – 2. Eric Clapton|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=30 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021001507/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123/eric-clapton-20111122|archive-date=21 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and fourth in ''[[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson's]]'' Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.<ref name="Gibson">{{cite web|url=http://www.gibson.com/en-us/lifestyle/Features/Top-50-Guitarists-528/|title=Top 50 Guitarists of All Time – 10 to 1|publisher=Gibson Guitar Company|access-date=22 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708022758/http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Lifestyle/Features/Top%2D50%2DGuitarists%2D528/|archive-date=8 July 2011}}</ref>

In 2011, ''[[The Guardian]]'' attributed the creation of the cult of the guitar hero to Clapton, ranking it number seven on their list of the 50 key events in rock music history;

{{blockquote|Nothing is more central to rock mythology than the cult of the lead guitarist. And no one did more to create that cult than Eric Clapton. He had already been a member of the Yardbirds before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the clearing house for guitarists, in April 1965. His two stints with Mayall saw his reputation grow to the extent that a famous graffito captured the popular appraisal of him among rock fans: "[[Clapton is God]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hann|first1=Michael|title=Eric Clapton creates the cult of the guitar hero|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton|work=The Guardian|date=12 June 2011|access-date=16 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311172627/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton|archive-date=11 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Elias Leight of ''Rolling Stone'' writes that Clapton "influenced recording techniques as well as guitar-playing technique".<ref name="RollingStone 2017"/> During recording sessions with John Mayall's group, Clapton was frustrated by technicians "that just came up to your amp with the microphone and just stuck it two inches away from the front of the amplifier. It seemed to me that if you wanted to get the atmosphere we were getting in the clubs, you needed it to sound like you were in the audience 10 feet away, not three inches". Clapton then moved the microphones, with Pink Floyd's [[Roger Waters]] stating, "That changed everything. Before Eric, guitar playing in England had been [[Hank Marvin]] of the Shadows, very simple, not much technique. Suddenly we heard something completely different. The records sounded unlike anything we had heard before."<ref name="RollingStone 2017"/>

In 2012, Clapton was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir [[Peter Blake (artist)|Peter Blake]] to appear in a new version of his artwork – the Beatles' ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life that he most admires to mark his 80th birthday.<ref>{{cite news|title=New faces on Sgt Pepper album cover for artist Peter Blake's 80th birthday|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/02/peter-blake-sgt-pepper-cover-revisited|work=The Guardian|date=5 October 2016|access-date=5 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105095109/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/02/peter-blake-sgt-pepper-cover-revisited|archive-date=5 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Indelibly linked to the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in London, a venue he has played at more than any other in his 50-year plus career, Clapton was inducted into the Royal Albert Hall's Walk of Fame in 2018, making him one of the first eleven recipients of a star on the walk, thus joining [[Muhammad Ali]], [[Winston Churchill]], the [[Suffragette]]s, and [[Albert Einstein]], among others who were viewed as "key players" in the building's history.<ref>{{cite news |title=Clapton, Churchill among those honoured by Royal Albert Hall 'Walk of Fame' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/clapton-churchill-among-those-honoured-royal-albert-hall-125347984.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFXXAI6ns0rFC_N5Rnbz0xyc68toy51NbA9yIj6objCSzY0jcnG-4vj3QTFr9k8gnFzmddMw87WXrLtLoWMTNJH2wPaQCmSPX_J86MUPpvJOV1i9Q4JX-ZftpO0irhEwrveNh1KZA6n7o87jXG5OsCPxYphrDqzGBjkyNg4NXEZR |access-date=20 June 2022 |work=Yahoo |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407115635/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/clapton-churchill-among-those-honoured-royal-albert-hall-125347984.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFXXAI6ns0rFC_N5Rnbz0xyc68toy51NbA9yIj6objCSzY0jcnG-4vj3QTFr9k8gnFzmddMw87WXrLtLoWMTNJH2wPaQCmSPX_J86MUPpvJOV1i9Q4JX-ZftpO0irhEwrveNh1KZA6n7o87jXG5OsCPxYphrDqzGBjkyNg4NXEZR |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Robert Christgau]], in a dissenting appraisal of Clapton's legacy, writes:
{{blockquote|A promiscuous sideman whose monklike aura has never diminished his extravagant appetites, Clapton likes to get paid, and he's amassed a discography that for an artist of his caliber is remarkably undistinguished. In his self-protective self-deprecation he often attributes this to his own laziness or his need for a catalyst, but it's also guitar hero's disease: like many other guys whose hand-ear coordination is off the curve, he's a casual tunesmith and a corny lyricist, and his band concepts are chronically hit-or-miss.<ref>{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=15 April 2020|url=https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-a49|title=Xgau Sez|website=And It Don't Stop|publisher=[[Substack]]|access-date=17 April 2020|archive-date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513061546/https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-a49|url-status=live}}</ref>}}Due to Clapton's impact in the music industry, he has also been mentioned in several songs. In "[[She's Leaving You]]", [[MJ Lenderman]] sings, "Believe that Clapton is the [[Second Coming|second coming]]", a reference to "[[Clapton is God]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-24 |title=MJ Lenderman Announces New Album 'Manning Fireworks': Hear "She's Leaving You" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2269295/mj-lenderman-shes-leaving-you/music/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}</ref> [[Phoebe Bridgers]] mentions Clapton in "[[Moon Song (Phoebe Bridgers song)|Moon Song]]", with the lyrics "We hate '[[Tears in Heaven]]' / But it's sad that his baby died", a reference to the death of Clapton's child, Conor. However, the original lyric, which she sometimes performs live, is "We hate Eric Clapton" instead of "We hate 'Tears in Heaven'."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Lavin |first=Will |date=2020-08-13 |title=Phoebe Bridgers says Eric Clapton makes "extremely mediocre music" |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/phoebe-bridgers-says-eric-clapton-makes-extremely-mediocre-music-2727105 |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Phoebe Bridgers – Moon Song (Live at Electric Lady) |url=https://genius.com/Phoebe-bridgers-moon-song-live-at-electric-lady-lyrics |access-date=2024-12-06}}</ref> She has said the lyric is because he is "a famous racist" and makes "extremely mediocre music".<ref name=":2" />