Pattie Boyd is speaking out about her ex-husband Eric Clapton, saying that although she was the inspiration behind some of his greatest hits, she did not receive any royalties despite asking for them in her divorce filing.
"I asked for that in my divorce and he said, 'Are you kidding?'" Boyd told The Sunday Times' Style magazine. "That's why I have to write books," she added.
Clapton wrote a string of songs about Boyd, including one of his biggest hits, "Layla," which was released during his time with Derek and the Dominoes in 1970, according to the Daily Mail. At the time, Boyd was still married to Beatles guitarist George Harrison and was the object of unrequited love to Clapton. Things did not last between Boyd and Harrison, though, and five years after their split, she married Clapton.
"Yes, he was very gorgeous and sexy, very stylish," she recalled of her first meeting with the musician, according to the Daily Mail. "[Beatles manager] Brian Epstein had a theatre and Eric was playing there. We all went back to Brian's flat and he became friends with George."
Boyd has refrained from sharing many details about her marriage and 1989 divorce from Clapton, but during an interview with ABC News in 2007, she recalled the first time she heard "Layla."
"He said, 'I've got something for you to hear,' and he put it on in a cassette machine and played it," Boyd said. "And I said, 'Oh, gosh, this is unbelievable!' And he said, he was just looking at me and saying, 'This is for you, I've written it for you.'"
According to the news outlet, Clapton's heavy drinking and drug abuse tore them apart, but the final blow came when Boyd, who was struggling with infertility, learned that Clapton was expecting a baby with another woman. When asked if she would do things differently if she were to go back in time, Boyd said she would not.
"I don't think I could have changed anything," she said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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