VIDEO: Eric Clapton Battles Addiction, Endures Heartache in ‘Life in 12 Bars’ Trailer

Showtime documentary premieres this month at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival

September 8, 2017

Guitar god, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and all-around music icon Eric Clapton takes center stage in the newly released trailer for Showtime’s upcoming documentary “Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars.”

Though Clapton may be one of rock and blues most enduring trailblazers, the film’s official trailer (above) shows his journey to the top was anything but smooth. Narrated in part by Slowhand himself, the film touches upon everything from his battles with addiction to the loss of his son 4-year-old son Conor in 1991, which inspired him to write his Song of the Year-winning ballad “Tears in Heaven.”

“I was in denial about my alcoholism,” a vintage Clapton says at one point in the trailer. “Music saved me.”

In addition to featuring plenty of classic performance clips and rare interviews, the documentary offers accounts from several famous friends and collaborators, including Beatle George Harrison, blues legend B.B. King, and some of Clapton’s former Yardbirds, Cream, and Derek & the Dominos bandmates.

Directed by Lili Fini Zanuck and produced by John Battsek (“Searching for Sugar Man”), “Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars” premieres later this month at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival before landing on Showtime in 2018. Check out the official trailer (above).

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