Eric Clapton

VANITY FAIR NOMINATES

Hall of Fame

BECAUSE in his 36 years as a pioneer of rock guitar (in the Yandbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek & the Dominos, then solo), this London native turned American kids on to their own Mississippi Delta blues and electrified a generation, BECAUSE to him the blues were "a man's music ... very deep and mature, a way for me to identify with the idea of becoming a man." BECAUSE he is elegant and shy and never fell for the 60s graffiti that proclaimed "Clapton is God." BECAUSE even with 13 Grammys and two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions (with the Yardbirds and Cream), he has

been known to get pre-concert jitters when he goes onstage, BECAUSE he's lived the blues—he was abandoned by his father before he was born; he lost his beloved four-year-old son, Conor, in a tragic accident in 1991—yet he still sees music as a healing force, BECAUSE he's survived broken relationships and conquered drug and alcohol addictions—and has aged more gracefully than most of his contemporaries, BECAUSE on June 24, Christie's will auction 100 of his guitars in New York to benefit the Crossroads Centre at Antigua, a nonprofit rehabilitation facility he recently founded for treatment of substance abuse, BECAUSE he's a superstar who sees himself as a journeyman.

LISA ROBINSON