Sheryl Crow "My Favorite Mistake"

Eric Clapton is rumored to be the man behind "My Favorite Mistake". In the song, Sheryl Crow sings about a relationship with a man who is unfaithful. While she's never confirmed who she's singing about in the song, she did admit it wasn't about Clapton claiming that their relationship was not a mistake.

Aaron Neville "Crazy Love"

Recorded for the Phenomenon Soundtrack, Aaron Neville's rendition of "Crazy Love" found its way onto Adult Contemporary radio stations in 1996. His take on the Van Morrison classic took a backseat to the soundtrack's biggest hit: "Change the World" from Eric Clapton.

Eric Clapton "Tears in Heaven"

You've probably heard Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven", but you may not know the song is Clapton's audio obituary to his four year-old son, Conor. Young Conor died in 1991 after he accidentally fell out of a window in a New York City high-rise apartment building. Losing his son happened at a time when Eric also lost his manager, two of his roadies and fellow Bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan in a helicopter accident -- not to mention he was battling a heroin addiction at the time. As a healing agent, Clapton turned to music. Eric claimed "Tears in Heaven" helped him accept and deal with the grief in his life and, in the process, became one of his biggest songs. Today, it still gets plenty of plays on the syndicated Deliah Show thanks to listeners who frequently request the tearjerker.

Rob Thomas "This Is How a Heart Breaks"

A quick glance at the 2006 Grammy nominations for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance saw Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton all lose to Rob Thomas. Somehow the Matchbox 20 singer's solo effort "This Is How a Heart Breaks" beat out four Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famers.

Guns 'N Roses "November Rain"

With today being the Winter Solstice -- the shortest day of the year, we highlight a song that is anything but short (for that, we'd award Del Amitri's "Roll to Me" which clocks in at just about two minutes). At nearly nine minutes in length, "November Rain" is the longest song to ever chart in the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Guns 'N Roses band mate Slash jokingly refers to the song as "the Layla song" (the Eric Clapton tune clocks in at just seven minutes and eight seconds). During the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), the band performed the song in its entirety along with Elton John on piano.

Eric Clapton "Running on Faith"

Credit Eric Clapton's MTV Unplugged album for introducing me to three-time inductee to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (thanks to his work in Cream, the Yardbirds and his solo efforts). The acoustic album recorded for MTV's Unplugged series contained the tear-jerker "Tears in Heaven", a neutered version of his signature "Layla" as well as "Running on Faith"--a cut from his 1989 Journeyman album. While thinking about it, Unplugged was only part of how I discovered Clapton. My parents divorced in 1992 and both eventually re-joined the dating world. It was a strange time for all involved including me. As much as I knew my parents marriage wasn't ever going to work, it was weird to watch them both date. For my dad, he moved out of our house and gradually introduced us to his lady friends. We lived with my mom in the house my parents built, so her private life wasn't so private. Almost immediately, she started dating a man named Steve. Steve was a soft-spoken used car salesman who looked like a cross between Eric Clapton and Kenny Loggins. Steve later opened his own car lot, and I created a fake radio commercial for him. The commercial "aired" within a series of songs on my fake radio station that broadcast from my bedroom. Whenever Steve was driving with friends in the car, he would cue up the cassette tape and say, "Oh, it's almost time for my radio commercial to air." His friends were always quite impressed when it did "air" -- twenty-five years later, I'm still creating commercials...but this time for three Chicago radio stations.

Eric Clapton "Wonderful Tonight"

Prom night 1993. I was still a sophomore in high school and wasn't attending, but my brother was. My job was simple: while all the parents gathered around my brother and his group of friends, I shouldered my aunt's heavy hand-held camcorder to videotape the festivities. Other than a steady hand, there wasn't much asked of me that May afternoon. The Prom theme that year was "Wonderful Tonight", so I decided to up the ante on my video and cue up the song on my Sony Walkman cassette player. While all the parents snapped pictures of their beloved children posing for the endless parade of photos, I attached my headphones to the camcorder's microphone and pressed "play" on the Walkman to add Eric Clapton's ballad to the video. I felt like it gave the video some depth other than a bunch of teenagers awkwardly standing around while each parent yelled "Look over here!". After all the parents and their children scurried off into the evening, I felt pleased with my first video production.

Since I still had access to my aunt's camcorder and didn't have plans that night, I decided to videotape my model train layout that sat in our home's basement. Aside from the HO scale trains, this miniature world contained plastic models of a church, movie theater, school, baseball field, Pizza Hut, used car lot, numerous factories, and a subdivision of tiny hand-painted homes illuminated by miniature lights that me and my dad assembled. As a shy 15 year-old, it was the thing I felt most proud -- not to mention, I actually felt in control of this little world. I chose each shot carefully and went to great lengths to capture the miniature world I spent years constructing.

A few days later, my friend John (who also collected model trains) asked to see the completed video, so I popped the tape into the VCR. The two of us watched from the beginning and I re-visited my brother's prom night. After the prom portion of the video, my beloved train empire made its debut on the giant console television that sat in my parent's living room. About 10 seconds into my train video, the movie cut to a seedy looking basement that showed my brother in a brown rayon Hawaiian shirt banging on bongo drums while a room full of burnouts strummed their guitars. My friend John perfectly summed up my thoughts when he said, "What the hell is this?" Confused, I didn't have an answer. I pressed fast-forward on the VCR only to watch the same scene play out over the next 15 minutes or so. "Why the hell did my brother videotape this awful jam session?", I wondered. Later that night, I demanded answers and my brother finally confessed that he wanted to show the prom tape to his history class and, for maximum effect, he wanted the tape to cut from prom to band practice. Alas, that meant my train video was taped over and all my hard work was reduced to a video of burnouts hosting band practice. This also perfectly encapsulates the relationship between my brother and me during those teenage years...

Eric Clapton "Layla (Unplugged)"

When MTV revived their Unplugged television series in 2017, the cable network tabbed Shawn Mendes to perform on the reboot of the show. The series originally debuted in 1989 and featured big names such as Elton John, Maroon 5, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and nearly 100 others, but less than 30 Unplugged episodes were turned into albums. One of the most successful Unplugged editions featured Eric Clapton. Originally taped in 1992, Clapton originally didn't want to release music from his performance, but later changed his mind. It's a good thing he did. Clapton's Unplugged album went on to sell over 26 million copies worldwide and earned him six Grammy Awards. His unplugged version of "Layla" was a night-and-day take on one of his biggest hit and gained radio airplay across multiple formats and introduced Clapton to a whole new audience.

Eric Clapton "Promises"

Clocking in at just three minutes in length, "Promises" from Eric Clapton is a catchy little tune.  

Eric Clapton - "Blue Eyes Blue"

Every chick flick requires a ballad to make the movie complete.  For the 1999 film Runaway Bride, that meant enlisting the help of Eric Clapton for the Diane Warren-penned song "Blue Eyes Blue".  While the song didn't top the mainstream radio charts, "Blue Eyes Blue" did spend a great chunk of 1999 in heavy rotation on Adult Contemporary radio stations.

Phil Collins - "I Wish It Would Rain Down"

The video for Phil Collins' "I Wish It Would Rain Down" clocked in at eight and one-half minutes and featured Jeffrey Tambor, Eric Clapton (who played guitar on the song), and various other members of Collins' band.  The song dominated the charts in 1990.

Rod Stewart - "Your Song"

Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin is an entire album of artists remaking Elton's music.  Tina Turner, Kate Bush, The Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Sting, Joe Cocker, and a handful of others recorded songs for the tribute.  Rod Stewart's take on "Your Song" became a Top 10 hit on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1992.

Sting - "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You"

Woodmar Records opened a record store in Schererville, Indiana in 1992 which meant that my friends and I would ride our bikes down busy US 41 to buy the latest music (usually on cassette or CD).  While my friend Matt was perusing the latest Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana album, I was checking out their selection of "cassingles" (one song on a cassette tape).  Woodmar had quite the bargain: $3.99 for one cassingle or you could buy three for $9.  What a deal!  This took some thought as I already had Dr. Alban's "It's My Life" in hand along with Eric Clapton's unplugged version of "Layla".  I wasn't about to pass up their three for $9 deal, so the hunt continued.  I eventually chose Sting's "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" as my third cassingle.  This caused my friend Pat not to question my choice of Dr. Alban, but rather Sting.  "Why would you spend money on that song when you can turn on any radio station at any time and hear that song?" he asked.  Good point. (Editor's note: I realized this song was covered in a previous post.  My bad.)

Eric Clapton - "Change the World"

Q: What song ranked #270 on the Recording Industry Association of America's "Top Songs of the Century List"?

A: "Change the World" by Eric Clapton

The Escape Club - "I'll Be There"

From Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", there is an abundance of songs about losing someone you love dearly.  A forgotten song that weaves a similar theme is the 1991 song "I'll Be There" by The Escape Club.  A band best-known for the song "Wild Wild West" (that featured gunshot sound effects), The Escape Club's final hit is arguably their best.

Eric Clapton - "My Father's Eyes"

Whoever said that through pain comes art must have read Eric Clapton's autobiography.  Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" was a somber ode to his four year old son who died after falling out of a window.  "My Father's Eyes" was written to both Clapton's son and Clapton's father. Originally performed for MTV's Unplugged but cut from the broadcast, "My Father's Eyes" addresses Clapton's relationship with his short-lived son while at the same time touching on how had never met his own father. And you thought you had problems?