LEGEND'S GIFT TO THOSE AT A CROSSROADS

LEGENDARY guitarist Eric Clapton turns 80 today, and he'd almost certainly be the first to admit it is a miracle he has made it this far.

- By Karen Rockett

The rock and blues singer/songwriter is regarded as one of the most influential guitarists ever - the only artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times as a member of The Yardbirds in 1992, Cream in 1993, and as a solo artist in 2000.

But along the way, Clapton has battled lifelong addiction issues and personal tragedy.

He struggled with severe heroin and cocaine addictions and is a recovering alcoholic. In his memoir he described a 20-year drug and alcohol addiction that cost him £12,000 a week to feed his demons.

"I don't know how I survived - the Seventies especially," he admitted.

"There was one point where they were flying me to hospital and I was dying, apparently. I had three ulcers and one of them was bleeding.

"I was drinking three bottles of brandy, taking handfuls of codeine, and I was close to checking out." But then the very worst thing that could happen to him happened.

Clapton's four-year-old son Conor died after falling from a window on the 53rd floor of a New York building on March 20, 1991.

The apartment belonged to a friend of Conor's mother, model Lory Del Santo. Clapton wasn't there at the time and learned of his son's death over the phone.

While the devastating news almost destroyed him, it would eventually provide the trigger to his sobriety.

Utterly bereft, Clapton fled to his holiday home in Antigua - the one place on earth he could hide - and became a recluse.

There he set up the Crossroads recovery centre where, today, they will also be celebrating his birthday.

His close personal friend Nicos Peraticos, CEO of Crossroads, tells the Sunday Express what Clapton means to them.

Nicos says: "When his son died, Eric came here to Antigua.

"He had owned a couple of homes here and the islanders were always very protective of him.