Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

British rocker Eric Clapton has had a plethora of hits over his long music career. But one of his most famous songs, "Tears in Heaven", is getting an in-depth look in the musician's new film special, Eric Clapton Unplugged… Over 30 Years Later. (The 90-minute film will be released on Paramount+ on Feb. 12.)

It centers on Clapton's iconic MTV Unplugged set from 1992, where he performed an acoustic version of “Tears in Heaven.” And in a newly resurfaced interview for the special, he dives more into the heartbreaking background story to the song's lyrics that were inspired by his son Conor's death and subsequent grief journey.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

In March 1991, his four-year-old Conor (who he shared with Italian actress and model Lory Del Santo) fell 49 floors from his mother's New York City apartment window. In a previous heart wrenching interview, Clapton revealed what happened the day of Conor's death after he received the news from Del Santo while he was in New York City visiting Conor.

“I remember putting the phone down and calmly walking from my hotel to that place as if nothing happened,” he said. “And I walked past the street, and this is a terrible thing of shame for me, which I’ll never, ever perhaps recover from and seeing that–seeing a crowd of people and a paramedic van and knowing that he was there [trying to be resuscitated] and walking by. I’ll punish myself forever about why didn’t I run? Why didn’t I go to see him? … the truth is I couldn’t. I was so frightened.”

Clapton wrote "Tears in Heaven" following Conor's death, specifically for the soundtrack to the film Rush. In an interview done before his iconic MTV Unplugged set, he shared more about how the song helped him through the grieving process.

“It was really needed to illustrate loss because of what happens in the movie, and it was a good opportunity for me to write about my son, about the loss of my son, and also have somewhere to put it, to channel it,” Clapton says in the resurfaced interview obtained by PEOPLE. “And I really wanted to say something about what had happened to me and the opportunity the movie gave me was excellent, because it meant I could write this song for the film and express my own feelings.”

Clapton chose to be vulnerable with the audience about Conor's death after he thought they “would be very surprised" if he didn’t, and "wouldn’t want to insult them by not including them in my grief, in a way." Clapton went on to add, "I do intend to make these things known and I will play them in concert and put them on record. And it is, for me, a healing process and I think it’s important that you share that with people that love your music."


In the film special, Clapton also reveals that Conor inspired his 1998 hit song, "My Father’s Eyes". Clapton shared the song was written to also honor his Canadian soldier father, Edward, who was never a part of Clapton's life.

"It’s a very personal matter, but I never met my father, and I’d realized it when I was with my son — the closest I ever came to looking in my father’s eyes was when I looked in my son’s eyes," he says. "So I wrote a song about that. It was kind of a strange, like a strange cycle thing that occurred to me and another thing that I felt I would like to share."

To this day, Clapton's Unplugged album is the he best-selling live album of all time. It has sold more than 26 million records.

More For You

Nasa's Crew-8 finally lands but can’t sit comfortably. Here’s why.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts from right to left NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, and Michael Barratt, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenki.

Nasa's Crew-8 finally lands but can’t sit comfortably. Here’s why.

In late October 2024, SpaceX Crew-8 completed NASA’s latest commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station with a splashdown near Pensacola. But rather than an easy transition back to normal life, three of the returning astronauts landed briefly in the hospital. Once discharged, they faced reporters and described the unexpected difficulties of reacclimating to Earth after 235 days in space.

Photographers at NASA capture the night sky Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, on a beach near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Photo by NASA/Glenn Benson via KSC

Keep ReadingShow less
A hotel room door, ajar.

Representative Image: It's important to keep safety in mind when checking into a hotel.

This viral post exposes a scary hotel security flaw, but there’s a simple way to stay safe

A TikTok video once raised alarms about hotel room security after demonstrating a device that could open doors from the outside. User braccozz posted a clip showing how a simple twisted wire could be inserted under a door, looped around the handle, and pulled to open the door. The video gained over 13.4 million views before being deleted, but not before sparking widespread concern.

"If you ever see this come under the door, run IMMEDIATELY."

— @braccozz

One woman’s real-life encounter with the hotel door hack

Before the original video disappeared, it reached TikTok user josiebowers10, who shared a terrifying experience from her teenage years. Bowers, from Canada, recalled how someone tried to break into her hotel room using the same method when she was 15 years old and on vacation in Ocean City, Maryland.

Keep ReadingShow less
woman reading book in tent

Ah, reading!

Photo by Lê Tân on Unsplash

People share the 46 books that helped them get through really hard times

Books have the power to heal. Reading stories that expand your mind and introduce new ideas can be a powerful tool to help you overcome hard times in life. So when a woman struggling opened up to complete strangers for book recommendations to help her through, they delivered.

"Looking for a book that can help me through a really hard time in life right now," she shared. "I’m going though a lot of changes and grief in my life right now. Getting very depressed and it’s hard for me to keep positive. I’m looking for a book that changed your life? Something that helps with perspective and makes you think." These are 46 of the best books that have helped people get through hard times.

Keep ReadingShow less
wedding, wedding surprise, wedding speech

Bride surprises husband with student messages at wedding reception.

Euphoria Films/Instagram

Bride surprises groom with sweet recorded messages from his students at their wedding reception

Wedding reception speeches are always tearjerkers. And for Australian newlyweds Ryan and Chelsea Cox, their reception speech had the entire wedding crying. In a touching Instagram video shared by Euphoria Films, bride Chelsea surprises her new groom Ryan with a heartwarming surprise from his students.

"You are exactly in the career you're meant to be. Making a real difference. You should be so proud of the love, the care and support you bring to their lives," Chelsea says in the beginning of the speech. "I know how much you wanted them here today, so I'm just sharing a little love from your Class 5 Red."

Keep ReadingShow less
Woman’s job interview takes a turn when she shares her love for sci-fi
Cover image source: Pexels | Pixabay; Reddit

Woman’s job interview takes a turn when she shares her love for sci-fi

Job interviews are nerve-wracking experiences, and even the most prepared candidates can face rejection for unexpected reasons. While some employers turn applicants away for valid concerns, others seem to base their decisions on trivial factors. One Reddit user, u/Alikona_05, shared a frustrating hiring experience where a highly qualified candidate was rejected simply because of her hobbies.

The post, which has received over 1.9K upvotes and 211 comments, described how their boss was looking for a temporary employee to fill in during a medical leave. Since the boss had a scheduling conflict, the Reddit user was asked to sit in on the interview alongside a senior coworker—whom they described as a "boomer."

Keep ReadingShow less