Eric Clapton, now 79, suffered unimaginable loss when his 4-year-old son, Conor, died in a tragic accident on March 20, 1991. While visiting New York with his mother, Italian actress Lory Del Santo, Conor fell from a 53rd-floor apartment window left unlatched after cleaning.
Clapton, who was on his way to pick Conor up, was devastated. Lory recalled, “If I hadn’t checked the fax, he’d still be alive.” Conor died just weeks before his fifth birthday.
The day before, Clapton had taken Conor to the circus — their first full day alone together. It was a joyful outing that deepened Clapton’s resolve to be a present father. He’d promised Conor a trip to the Bronx Zoo the next day, never knowing it would be their last moment together.
Grief-stricken, Clapton withdrew from the public eye. He brought Conor’s body home to England for burial in his hometown of Ripley, then spent nearly a year in isolation in Antigua, healing through music.
During this time, he wrote “Tears in Heaven” as a tribute to Conor. His heartbreak was compounded when, after the funeral, he received a letter Conor had written just days before the accident. It simply read, “I love you.”