By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career in the mid-1970s, he was already established as a major rock star.
He had performed with the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith.
In 1974 his debut solo release, 461 Ocean Boulevard, topped the Billboard charts and spawned the hit songs I Shot the Sheriff and After Midnight.
His follow ups, There's One in Every Crowd and E.C. Was Here in 1975 and No Reason to Cry in 1976, were less successful.
But he bounced back with 1977's Slowhand, which featured Cocaine, Lay Down Sally and Wonderful Tonight.
Clapton's popularity waned during the first half of the 1980s but surged with the release of the box set retrospective, Crossroads, in 1988. It would be his last new studio album for nearly five years.
In 1991, his 4-year-old son was killed in a fall out of a 53rd story window. While Clapton mourned, he released a live album, 24 Nights, and prepared a movie soundtrack, Rush. The soundtrack featured a song written for his son, Tears in Heaven, which earned a Grammy for best song of the year.
A year later, Clapton recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged that became his biggest-selling record and picked up a Grammy for best album. Clapton returned with a successful blues album, From the Cradle.
In 2000 Clapton teamed up with old friend B.B. King on Riding With the King, a set of blues standards and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing titled Reptile followed in early 2001.
Most recently, Clapton issued Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honoring the Mississippi-born bluesman Robert Johnson.
Clapton performs at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Tickets cost $45 to $85. Call 301-6600.
