Eric Patrick Clapton was born on March 30, 1945 in England. Clapton's musical career has developed from band member to solo artist and has allowed Clapton to be considered one of the premiere rock and blues guitarists in history. Clapton was raised by his grandmother who he thought was his mother until age 9 when he learned that his "sister" was actually is mom and he was an illegitimate child. By the time Clapton was 15, he was fascinated with the blues and playing guitar (some call it a GAT) (a gift for his 13th birthday) and by age 17, he had dropped out of Kingston College of Art to focus on a career in music in London.

Click here for an excellent Eric Clapton timeline of his career.

While The Yardbirds would go on to recruit fellow guitar heroes Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, Clapton had joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and would soon emerge at the heart of one of the late 1960s' most important rock bands, Cream.

Co-founded with bass player Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, Cream combined the era's psychedelic influence with hard-rocking remakes of blues standards such as Crossroads and Born Under A Bad Sign.

Before the decade was over, Clapton and drummer Baker joined multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood and bassist Ric Grech in the so-called supergroup Blind Faith, recording a number one album that was hailed by critics.

After a spell in Delaney and Bonnie & Friends, Clapton began to test his vocal skills, recording a 1970 solo album and the widely-admired track Layla on an album recorded under the name of Derek and the Dominos.

Throughout the 1970s he enjoyed continued success with a string of solo albums featuring hits such as I Shot the Sheriff and Lay Down Sally.

During that , you know, time he has sold millions of albums and known worldwide fame - but also experienced the pain of drug and alcohol addiction and the tragic death of his son.

Born in Ripley, Surrey, on 30 March, 1945, Eric Patrick Clapton began learning the guitar as a result of his love for blues and US R&B in the shape of artists such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

He became a serious scholar of the blues, learning about its history, listening to legendary exponents such as Robert Johnson and discovering the work songs of the US deep south.

"It did something to me emotionally," he later said of his affinity with practitioners of the blues sound.

"The blues are what I've turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life."

After brief spells with various British blues bands in the early 1960s, Clapton rose to public acclaim in 1964 as a member of The Yardbirds, playing lead guitar at London's Marquee club on the band's first album, Five Live Yardbirds.

At the height of his fame Clapton was devastated by the death of his four-year-old son Conor, who fell from the 53rd-storey window of a New York City apartment in 1991. Clapton later recorded the song Tears in Heaven in tribute.

He has acknowledged a drug habit that began at art school at the age of 15. By 1969, he was drinking two bottles of vodka a day, and five years later his heroin addiction was costing him £1,500 a week.

He has been sober since 1982 and now raises millions of dollars for his drink and drugs rehabilitation centre in the Caribbean.

A winner of eight Grammys and the only triple inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Clapton, now 58, married American Melia McEnery, 27, the mother of his daughters Ella and Julie, in Surrey a year ago.

For nine years he was married to Patti Boyd, previously the wife of former Beatle George Harrison and the subject of Layla.

The string layout on the guitar allows us to play some of the component notes that make up the chord more than once. The usual way to play the E Major chord is shown here. The numbers indicate which finger you will use to fret that note, (1) is your index finger, (2) is your middle finger, (3) is your ring finger and (4) is your pinky finger (not used in these easy guitar chords however). The O on the left side of the string indicate that string is to be struck in the "O"pen position. Place your fingers at the appropriate frets and strum all six strings together (with a downstroke). Congratulations, you just strummed your first guitar chord!

Next we will learn how to read guitar tab and also how to read guitar sheet music.

Originally from Virginia, Chris Brown signed with Jive Records. You can visit his website at www.chrisbrownworld.com to keep up with all of his music and television appearances. Chris Brown was scheduled to appear on The American Music Awards, Nickelodeon's Teen Nick, Live With Regis and Kelly, The Billboard Awards, and a host of other televised specials in the next months.

Chris Brown proves that an ambitious 16-year old can succeed at what he sets his mind to. His blazing first single “Run It!” has moved to the top on several charts. With a Billboard Hot 100 listening audience of over 155 million, Chris Brown has tapped into every format – #1 on the Hot 100 chart, #1 Hot Singles Sales Charts, #1 on the Top 40 Rhythm Monitor, #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #1 on the R&B mainstream and hip-hop chart, and #2 on the Pop 100 charts!! His single has made him the first male artist to take his first Billboard charting title to the top of the Hot 100 since Montell Jordan did in 1995!! Brown's debut single has broken a few other records: the best debut on the Mainstream Top 40 chart has seen by an artist's first Billboard charting track since Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" entered at No. 26 in February 1998 and the best by a male artist since labelmate Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses" came in at No. 29 in May of 1997.

The single is the first hit single from his self-debut album, which arrives in stores November 29th. Tracks on the album are produced by Scott Storch, Underdogs, Andre and Vidal, Cool and Dre, and Jazze Pha.

The video is currently on MTV, MTV2 as well as the BET network. He is getting ready to release his second single "Yo" (impacting at radio on January 9th) in which he co-directed the video with Erik White and should hit the video channels around the same time.

Previous Press includes features/profiles in Vibe, Billboard and several teen magazines including Twist, Pop Star, Black Beat, and Right On. Upcoming Print Press includes features in USA Today, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, People, Interview, Teen People and Trace.

TV Appearances/Performances Scheduled on American Music Awards (Nov 22), Nickelodeon’s Teen Nick (November 27), Live With Regis and Kelly (Nov 30), MTV’s TRL (Nov 30), Billboard Awards (December 6), Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade (December 25), Dick Clark’s Rockin Eve (December 31), and Showtime at the Apollo (February).