Eric Clapton Has Tinnitus And Says He Is Going Deaf

Legendary blues guitarist Eric Clapton is going deaf, but promises to keep playing as long as he can.

In an interview with the BBC for his new documentary “Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars,” the Cream, Blind Faith, and Yardbirds guitar virtuoso said he will keep performing “a few gigs” despite issues with his health.

“I mean, I’m going deaf, I’ve got tinnitus, my hands just about work,” Clapton told the British news outlet. “I’m hoping that people will come along and see me just because—or maybe more than because— I’m a curiosity. I know that’s part of it. It’s amazing to myself that I’m still here.”

Tinnitus is the “perception of noise or ringing in the ears” and can be a symptom of an underlying condition such as age-related hearing loss, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But Clapton doesn’t appear to be calling it quits anytime soon—the guitarist, whose nickname is “Slowhand,” is working on a new studio album—his 24th—and will perform in London in July. He released his last LP, I Still Do, in 2016.

But the 72-year-old, who is viewed as one of the most influential guitarists of all time, said he’s ready for whenever the time comes that he can no longer bend strings. “That would be alright, I would accept it, because playing is difficult anyway,” he said.

The news comes alongside another Q&A, after the live screening of the documentary, in which Clapton confessed to be “ashamed” about his racist past. The documentary addressed the infamous racist outburst Clapton unleashed during a 1976 concert in Birmingham, England, when he expressed support for white nationalist politician Enoch Powell and warned that Britain was becoming a “black colony.”

“I sabotaged everything I got involved with,” Clapton’s quoted as saying. “I was so ashamed of who I was, a kind of semi-racist, which didn’t make sense. Half of my friends were black, I dated a black woman, and I championed black music.”