Eric Clapton's Damaged Nervous System Leaves Him Struggling to Play Guitar...
Courtesy of David Millward
Clapton, 71, said damage to his nervous system had made it hard for him to play the guitar because of the illness.
“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 told Classic Rock magazine.
“And I’ve had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old.’’
For years Clapton, whose career encompassed playing with John Mayall, Cream and the first “super group” Blind Faith, lived a life of rock and roll excess.
He struggled with addiction to alcohol, prescription drugs, cocaine and heroin.
“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."
“For some reason I was plucked from the jaws of hell and given another chance," he said.
In one interview, two years ago, he paid tribute to another rock legend, JJ Cale, who he credits with getting him through his darkest days.
Clapton recently released a new studio album, I Still Do, which he supported with a brief string of performances in Tokyo.
There a currently no tour dates scheduled.
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