Eric Clapton used to be a hero of legendary blues guitarist Robert Cray. But all that changed with what Cray calls Clapton’s strange turn in the road over COVID-19.
The worst of all, Cray told The Washington Post, was Clapton’s song “Stand and Deliver” late last year comparing COVID-19 lockdowns to slavery.
Cray emailed his friend, asking him if he really wanted to make that comparison.
“His reaction back to me was that he was referring to slaves from, you know, England from way back,” Cray told the Post.
Soon after, Cray told Clapton that he would no longer open for him at his concerts.
Then after a September performance, Cray spotted a photo of Clapton posing backstage with GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “What’s wrong with this picture?” Cray said he asked himself. “Why are you doing this?”
Other longtime friends are just as astounded. Clapton announced last month that he was funding an anti-vaccine band for the “great work” they’re doing.
As for Cray, the friendship is over. “I’d just rather not associate with somebody who’s on the extreme and being so selfish,” he told the Post.
Read who else is flabbergasted by the change in Clapton in the Post story here.