Eric Clapton doesn’t think about retirement right now.
In a recent chat with The Real Music Observer, the interviewer mentioned that some journalists in the United States say the guitarist should retire while he still sounds good. When the host said his singing got better over the years, Clapton replied:
“I feel like I am because I’ve tried to be. I remember asking Stevie Wonder… We bumped into one another in a hotel in the ’70s and I said, ‘How do you sing like that?’ And he said, ‘You do you breathe.’ Yeah, you do breathing exercises and I thought, ‘Never occurred to me.’”
He Learned How To Sing Better
Eric further discussed his exercises to improve his singing:
“And I didn’t want to sink because I just couldn’t have a picture right. But if you breathe and see from here, the diaphragm, it’s easier to pitch. Some people don’t have to worry about it. They’re naturally inclined but I have to work at it a bit and I have to go for walks and I do a little bit of exercise and parties and stuff.”
Touring Life Has Become Harder For Clapton
The 79-year-old musician has talked about retiring for a while but continued performing. In a 2014 interview with Uncut, he noted:
“The road has become unbearable. It’s become unapproachable because it takes so long to get anywhere. It’s hostile – everywhere: getting in and out of airports, traveling on planes and in cars. There are tons of things I’d like to do, but I’m looking at retirement too. What I’ll allow myself to do, within reason, is carry on recording in the studio. I don’t want to go off the boil to the point where I’m embarrassing myself.”
The guitarist is currently on his European tour. After performing in France and Italy, he will have more shows in South America in September. Then he will head towards North America in October.
You can watch his full interview below.