Eric Clapton, center, performs during his “70th Birthday Celebration” concert at Madison Square Garden on Friday, May 1, 2015, in New York. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/Invision/AP)
One of the most iconic guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton, now can hardly play the instrument that launched his rise to superstardom.
The 71-year old “Tears in Heaven” singer has been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, a type of nerve damage that can cause muscle weakness, tingling and numbness in a person’s arms and legs.
Clapton detailed his ongoing battle with the nervous system ailment, which has reportedly made it difficult for him to even hold a guitar.
“I’ve had quite a lot of pain over the last year. It started with lower back pain, and turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy–which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg,” he was quoted as saying in an article in the Telegraph. “And I’ve had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old.’’
Despite being hampered by health concerns, Clapton released his 23rd studio album entitled “Still Do” last month, but has quit touring since it “has become quite unbearable.”
“[It’s] hard work to play the guitar and I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that it will not improve,” he said.
“What I’ll allow myself to do, within reason, is carry on recording in the studio. I don’t want to go off the boil to the point where I’m embarrassing myself.”
Clapton, whose career started alongside John Mayall, Cream and the first “super-group” Blind Faith, admitted living the typical rock star life during his heyday until it has taken a toll on his body.
“Because I’m in recovery from alcoholism and addiction to substances, I consider it a great thing to be alive at all. By rights I should have kicked the bucket a long time ago,” he was quoted as saying.
“For some reason I was plucked from the jaws of hell and given another chance,” he added.
Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine’s greatest guitarists of all time and is the only person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times.
His most notable songs include “Tears in Heaven,” which was written after the death of his son in 1991, while “Layla” was recorded in 1970 with his band Derek and the Dominos. Khristian Ibarrola