STORY:
U.K. Pop Great Gives Free Concert

The Associated Press reports Eric Clapton is planning a New Year's Eve party for people who don't want to greet the millennium in an alcoholic haze.

Clapton, who stopped drinking almost 12 years ago and also battled drug addiction, told the British Broadcasting Corp that he will play with a band during the invitation-only party, which will be held at an undisclosed location in the English countryside.

"We devised this little thing where we put on a dance," he said. "It's all very secret. It's like a little gathering of people who don't drink anymore."

The guitarist best-known for the classic rock song "Layla" said the idea was prompted by past New Year's Eves, which he called "the worst night of the year for people who don't drink."

"I used to watch New Year's Eve on TV and feel really miserable and lonely and think `I'm not drinking.' There's nowhere I can go, you know, as a sober person," he said.

Last year, Clapton opened a non-profit rehabilitation clinic on the Caribbean Island of Antigua. He told the BBC he also has worked as an unpaid volunteer at the Priory Clinic in London, a rehabilitation facility.

Source: Washington Post / AP

DATE: 5/19/99

For more E2000 stories, click here:
news | events | Y2K | today's news

Marketplace
Books
Collectibles
Celebration Supplies
General Merchandise
Travel Packages