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.<\/p>\n
Clapton, who was on his way to pick Conor up, was devastated. Lory recalled, \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t checked the fax, he\u2019d still be alive.\u201d Conor died just weeks before his fifth birthday.<\/p>\n
The day before, Clapton had taken Conor to the circus \u2014 their first full day alone together. It was a joyful outing that deepened Clapton\u2019s resolve to be a present father. He\u2019d promised Conor a trip to the Bronx Zoo the next day, never knowing it would be their last moment together.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
During this time, he wrote \u201cTears in Heaven\u201d 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, \u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n