Messy love triangles that end with no one staying together in the entertainment industry are nothing new. Sometimes, these complex relationships are self-contained within a band, like Fleetwood Mac. Other times, the love triangles are between two musicians and one shared object of affection. Both circumstances can produce some incredible music and performances, including when Eric Clapton performed a song he wrote about his then-ex-wife and George Harrison’s ex-wife on Saturday Night Live.
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Clapton appeared on the iconic sketch comedy show in late March during an incredibly busy year. He kicked off his Journeyman World Tour two months earlier in January, which included an 18-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall. (Just a couple of weeks after he appeared on SNL, the International Astronomical Union named Minor Planet 4305 after him. No big deal.) Needless to say, SNL was one part of a year-long promotional run that saw Clapton perform all over the globe.
But while he was at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, he performed three songs: “No Alibis”, “Pretending”, and “Wonderful Tonight”. That last song hit differently that night, given that the woman he wrote it about had divorced him the previous year.
Eric Clapton Wrote This Song About His and George Harrison’s Ex-Wife
Eric Clapton famously fell head over heels for English model Pattie Boyd while she was still married to former Beatle, George Harrison. Boyd and Harrison wed during the height of The Beatles fame in January 1966. Meanwhile, Harrison and Clapton were beginning to work together, which gave Clapton the opportunity to get closer to Boyd. It was around this time that Clapton developed feelings for Boyd, writing “Layla”, among other songs, about his infatuation. Although Boyd initially rebuffed Clapton’s advances, she and Harrison split in 1977, and the following year, she married Clapton.
“Wonderful Tonight” was another song Clapton wrote for Boyd—this time as her partner, and not a man driven to madness by unrequited love. As Boyd recalled in her memoir, Wonderful Today, “One night, unusually, Eric and I were going out. But I couldn’t decide what to wear. I was taking a very long time to do my makeup and hair, putting on one dress, then another and another, throwing them all into a pile on the floor. Poor Eric had been ready for hours and was waiting patiently.”
Clapton noodled on the guitar while he waited, and that’s where inspiration for “Wonderful Tonight” struck. After the rock ‘n’ roller released the track on Slowhand, it became a massive hit. So much so that public demand was high enough to justify Clapton singing it on Saturday Night Live, despite Boyd divorcing him the previous year.
At the very least, Clapton hadn’t lost his friendship with Harrison, who jokingly called Clapton a “husband-in-law” while the “Cocaine” singer was still married to Boyd. In her memoir, Boyd wrote, “‘Wonderful Tonight’ was the most poignant reminder of all that was good in our relationship.”
Photo by Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect
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