Eric Clapton Reveals How 'Tears in Heaven' Helped Him Grieve Son's Death in Newly Resurfaced Interview

Just before he took the stage in 1992 to record what would become the best-selling live album of all time, Eric Clapton reflected on the death of his young son, Conor, and how he’d used music to help him heal.

Clapton, 79, famously performed an acoustic version of his hit single “Tears in Heaven” for Unplugged, which aired as an MTV special and was later released as a live album. Prior to recording the set, the legendary rocker took part in an interview, which is now being released as part of the extended, remastered special Eric Clapton Unplugged… Over 30 Years Later.

“Tears in Heaven” was written about the star’s son Conor, who died at 4 years old after falling from the window of a New York City apartment building in March 1991. Clapton — who shared the child with Italian actress and model Lory Del Santo — wrote the song for the soundtrack of the 1991 movie Rush.

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“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. “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 says in the special that he felt as though his audience “would be very surprised” if he didn’t make some reference to losing Conor, and he “wouldn’t want to insult them by not including them in my grief, in a way.”

“I do intend to make these things known and I will play them in concert and put them on record,” he says. “And it is, for me, a healing process and I think it’s important that you share that with people that love your music.”

“Tears in Heaven” was a major success and won three Grammy Awards, including record of the year, song of the year and best pop vocal performance, male.

In the new interview footage, the rocker also explains that his song “My Father’s Eyes,” which he later released as a single in 1998, was inspired by Conor, too, as well as his father Edward, a Canadian soldier who was never present in his 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.”

Unplugged featured the star revamping classics like “Layla” with a blues-inspired style, and performing covers of songs by major influences like Bo Diddley and Bessie Smith. The live album went on to become the best-selling live album of all time, with more than 26 million records sold.

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Clapton later opened up more about life as a father in his 2007 autobiography, revealing that his daughter Ruth — who was born to Yvonne Kelly in 1985, while Clapton was still married to ex-wife Pattie Boyd — helped him cope with his grief.

“Yvonne knew that [being close to Ruth] would help and it was true. I was able to hold a child again, and to be held by a child,” he wrote. “Ruth has been a tremendous support. I had no idea how much power a child could have on an adult life, how much it can make you feel valid, unique and strong.”

He went on to welcome daughters Julie Rose, 23, Ella May, 22, and Sophie Belle, 19, with wife Melia McEnery, whom he married in 2002.

Eric Clapton Unplugged… Over 30 Years Later is premiering in select theaters on Monday, Jan. 27 and Tuesday, Jan. 28. It will be released for streaming on Paramount+ on Feb. 12.

Read the original article on People