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In reply to the discussion: Willie Nelson fans furious over announcement that he'll headline a rally for Beto O'Rourke. [View all]VOX
(22,976 posts)Clapton is mortified by his past behavior. Interestingly, no known audio, film or video exists of the 1976 racist rant in question. It was initially reported in a rock-music periodical, so one has to accept (or not) that every word about this incident is true as written, and nothing was embellished.
However, Clapton himself has owned up to this particular reprehensible behavior. It was during that very dark time that he was ultra-high on heroin, booze and god-knows-what-else. Its a miracle that he even survived that period. Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Blind Owl Al Wilson, Keith Moon and dozens of other rock icons didnt survive. Jack Bruce of Cream died in 2014 due to a failed liver transplant his heroin addiction went on longer than Claptons.
Clapton is deeply ashamed and has apologized repeatedly about the 1976 incident while extremely inebriated. In a recent documentary about the musician, Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars by the American filmmaker Lili Fini Zanuck, Clapton says he was disgusted at his infamous concert outburst. Clapton said that he accepted it was shocking and unforgivable, adding: I was becoming not only chauvinistic but fascistic too. I was so ashamed of who I was, a kind of semi-racist, which didnt make sense. Half of my friends were black. I dated black women and I championed black music.
Critics still bash him, some even saying that his apologies amount to whitesplaining. Whatever the case, I think that Clapton is a changed man (the accidental death of his 4-year-old son in 1991 shook him profoundly). My own opinion is that Claptons earned forgiveness.
But dont let this lousy moment spoil your appreciation of the artist. As someone posted above, Elvis Costello had his racist moment, too, as did David Bowie, who said Hitler was one of the first rock stars, and used Nazi iconography in his performances.
Nevertheless, we embrace these artists because theyre complex, and their music touches on issues that concern the human condition and that includes all of us.