Eric Clapton Unplugged—The Greatest Live Album of All Time

Eric Clapton has been a mainstay of the electric guitar scene for more than 60 years. Starting with the Yardbirds in 1963 and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in 1966, he quickly developed a reputation as a blues-driven rock virtuoso. When he formed the supergroup Cream, it was only a matter of time before the band’s four albums went mainstream. It was during this period of time that the infamous “Clapton is God” graffiti was scrawled on a wall in north London, perfectly capturing the popular sentiment surrounding his musical abilities at the time.

Over the course of the next 30 years, Clapton went on to play with numerous groups and release multiple solo albums, further cementing his reputation as one of the greatest blues/rock guitarists in the business. His chops on the electric guitar would eventually lead to Clapton being heralded as the second greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone, as well as fourth by Gibson, and fifth by Time. Throughout his career, he also won 18 Grammys, became the only person to be inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame three times (both with the Yardbirds and Cream, and as a solo artist), and sold over 100 million solo albums. 

Interestingly, however, it was an acoustic set performed for MTV’s Unplugged series in the early 1990s that extended Clapton’s career another 30 years, while at the same time redefining him as a musician and resulting in his most successful album (as well as the best-selling live album of all time)—Unplugged, which sold 26 million copies. More than 30 years later, in May 2025, Clapton celebrated the three-decade anniversary of his legendary performance by rereleasing the session, remastered, remixed, and developed into a documentary called Eric Clapton Unplugged…Over 30 Years Later for Paramount+.

A richer, fuller, and more intimate experience

In the early 1990s, MTV launched its Unplugged series, which took a number of established and up-and-coming rock artists and placed them in intimate concert settings, without distortion, autotune, or heavy-duty effects. The idea was to strip the artists’ music down to their bare essence, providing both in-person and televised audiences with authentic, raw concert experiences. The series resulted in a number of noteworthy and even legendary performances, including those by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and 10,000 Maniacs. But it was the acoustic set played by Eric Clapton and his accompanying band that proved most memorable. 

While Clapton was still as relevant as ever and maintained a dedicated following, he was also arguably past his peak as an international rock phenom. He was an aging rock legend in a genre that had gone through a number of evolutions since his days with Cream and the Yardbirds, and that was now being dominated by a grunge movement that sounded quite different than his blues-influenced licks.

But Clapton still drew a large audience for his Unplugged performance, and what they heard blew them away. Unencumbered by the amplified volume of his electric guitar, he played a concert that may have been quieter, but that was also richer, fuller, and more intimate. He slowed down timeless hits like “Layla” (which went on to hit number 11 on the charts), covered a number of blues classics, and surprised listeners with several new originals—including the heartrending “Tears in Heaven,” which was written after the tragic loss of his 4-year-old son the year before. And he did it all on an acoustic guitar that sounded just as natural in his hands as his beloved Les Paul Standard.

The live album almost didn’t happen

The resulting live album, simply called Unplugged, almost didn’t happen. Clapton had released an electric live album titled 24 Nights the previous year and didn’t want to dilute the market with two live albums at the same time, but eventually agreed to release Unplugged in August of 1992. Within weeks, it had turned into one of the biggest successes of his career. It sold nearly 30 million copies, became the biggest live album in history, won three Grammys, and was only the third live album to win Album of the Year. (Interestingly, Clapton had played on one of the other two live Album of the Year winners—The Concert for Bangladesh by George Harrison.)

It is impossible to overstate the impact of Eric Clapton’s Unplugged, which continues to be one of the greatest live performances more than three decades later. The fact that it contains an acoustic set—played by one of the greatest electric guitarists of all time—only serves to further emphasize the album’s unique impact on rock and roll, as well as the guitar world in general.