A song that was born from a deep grief continues to be a timeless classic years later that still resonates with people everywhere. The song in question is Eric Clapton‘s 1991 track “Tears in Heaven,” which he wrote after the death of his son.
In early 1991, Clapton’s 4-year-old son died in a tragic accident. While going through the intense loss, Clapton expressed his feelings through his music. He wrote the ballad “Tears in Heaven” with Will Jennings soon after his son Conor‘s death, the same year. It was released on the soundtrack for the film Rush, which was a crime drama starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric.
Early the next year, Clapton performed the track live for MTV Unplugged. Along with “Tears in Heaven,” he also played the songs “Layla,” “Running on Faith,” and “San Francisco Bay Blues,” and many more. He then released the performance as his live album, Unplugged, later in the year.
“Tears in Heaven” was a huge success. It remains Clapton’s best-selling single in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also won him three Grammys, including Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year.
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In an interview he gave alongside the Unplugged performance, Clapton explained how the song came to be. He said that he was working on a song for the film Rush that “needed to illustrate loss, because of what happens in the movie.”
Clapton went on, “And it was a good opportunity for me to write about my son, about the loss of my son, and also have somewhere to put it, to channel it. And I really wanted to say something about what had happened to me, and the opportunity the movie gave me was excellent.”
Conor was the son Clapton shared with his former partner, model Lory Del Santo. He also had a daughter named Ruth before Conor’s birth, and later welcomed kids Julie, Ella, and Sophie.
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