Eric Clapton is certainly one of the most influential and successful guitarists, songwriters and singers of all time. With an estimated amount of more than 280 million records sold, he obviously carved his name in the history of music.
But along the way he was criticized for some racist and xenophobic comments, which were even made live in concert back in the 70s, for which he apologized later. More recently, during the pandemic he was also criticized for being against the vaccine and lockdown to control the disease. Regarding those two things, he was obviously wrong about it, since are things that cannot be accepted. There never should be a room for racism and for denying what science proves is the best thing to do to save lives.
Although the original Pink Floyd bassist, main songwriter and singer Roger Waters doesn’t share the exact same opinion with Eric Clapton on everything, they both are defending Gaza and Palestine on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. So in an interview with The Real Music Observer, Clapton praised Waters for sharing his opinion and political views on things.
Eric Clapton praises Roger Waters for sharing his opinions
“I don’t respond to the word ‘should’ very well. Anyone that tells me what I should be doing, I’m going to do the opposite. Not just out of spite, but because who are they to tell me how to live my life? I don’t interfere with them. I love Roger, I love him. We are brothers and he goes his way about it it takes a lot of guts. He suffers from it terribly. I’ve seen him sit on the window ledge in tears and say ‘It’s morning here in Manhattan and I’m in tears again’, you know?”
“I can’t do that, I am on the verge of tears a lot when I think about what’s going on and the evil there is. But I also have to carry a positive message of hope, and he does too. Music is a healing agent. I believe that there is a system of thinking about how you conduct yourself in that realm, and to be responsible not to offend people.”
He continued:
“Gandhi had it down, but I don’t really want to follow his path. Because if he wanted people to follow his thinking he would go on a starvation diet and he would risk his life and that’s when they knew he was serious.”
“A lot of people really don’t expect me or Roger to stick to what we say, but we do. And I think I have a responsibility because of what I told you earlier that I’m there carrying a message of hope, for love, peace and freedom you know that’s my responsibility as a musician,” Eric Clapton said.
The British guitarist and singer is back on the road in 2024 and he has scheduled tour dates in Europe, North America and South America.