Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival for Rehab Center

Fri, 30 March 2007 12:00:00 ET

Eric Clapton alongside B.B. King, Willie Nelson and other musicians are ready for July concert to raise money for Eric's Crossroads drug and alcohol addiction center.

Eric Clapton is gathering some of the world's most legendary guitarists for a July concert to raise money for his Crossroads rehab center. The musician has invited a host of famous axe-men to take part in Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival - scheduled to take place in Chicago on July 28 to benefit his exclusive drug and alcohol Antigua addiction center.

B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Beck and John Mayer are all confirmed to appear. Eric is also hoping for some spontaneous collaborations at the event. He said: "Some of it's mapped and some of it isn't. We have to leave a little bit of it to chance."

The 62-year-old musician battled his own drugs and alcohol addictions, before opening the center a decade ago.

He said: "I haven't had a drink or drug for quite a long time and it's changed my life completely. That's something I want to pass on and share with other people. Clinics like Crossroads are very necessary. I think it's suffered a little bit in some of the recent publicity with the celebrities who go there. It's a bit of a witch hunt going on in some of the news channels about rehabs in general. It's a little scary because the last thing we want is to lose any of the rehabs."

Eric who was ranked 4th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of The Greatest Guitarists of All Time, is currently on a world tour until which finishes next month. He plans to go home to England for a "rest with his family" before the Crossroads show.

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