Despite the 31 years age gap, Eric Clapton and Melia McErny still apparently lead a happy married life that’s lasted for over 20 years now. Today we are going to dig into the interesting facts about the life of Eric’s wife Melia.
Who is Melia McErny?
Melia McErny was born on 1st February 1976, in Columbus, Ohio, USA, to a Scottish-English father and a Korean – Irish mother. She matriculated from Watterson High School, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in art from Ohio University.
She moved to California and worked different jobs just to pay the bills, before entering the design industry and working as an assistant then a sales executive with Giorgio Armani; that’s where she met one of the best guitarists in the world, Eric Clapton.
Who is Eric Clapton?
Eric Clapton was born on 30 March 1945 in Ripley, Surrey UK. He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist, who started his career in 1963 with the English rock band ‘The Yardbirds’, with the famous Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck. The trio currently lists in the 100 greatest guitars of all time.
Eric later formed the Blind Faith blue band with Steve Winwood and Ric Grech, but the band only produced one album and only made one tour.
Eric decided to follow a solo career in the 1970s, and climbed his ladder to success all alone. He’s been rewarded with the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and collected 18 Grammy Awards. Eric Clapton has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, proudly earning him the title of the greatest blues and rock guitarist of all time.
In 1998, he founded Crossroads Centre On Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers, where his wife Melia McErny worked – according to his 2007 autobiography, he himself was a drug addict, and that’s what motivated him to help other people follow his line of recovery. The rock singer said in his autobiography ‘it was a great thing to be alive at all … by rights I should have kicked the bucket a long time ago.’
When did Eric Clapton and Melia McErny started dating?
In 1991, when Eric Clapton was attending a Giorgio Armani party in Los Angeles, Melia was working as an event planner; the party was thrown in honor of Eric, after one of his performances.
The moment Melia saw Eric Clapton, she jumped to ask for an autograph for her uncle who happened to be a fan of Eric. Interestingly, things turned out well for her, since the autograph wasn’t the only thing that Eric Clapton gave her, but they also exchanged contact info. Shortly afterwards, the pair started dating.
Melia McErney was 22 years old, while her boyfriend Eric Clapton was 53, and despite the 31 years gap, the couple didn’t seem to care much. Melia was in a relationship at the time, but her ex-boyfriend said that she dumped him as soon as she started dating Eric.
However, Eric and Melia’s love story almost ended for good when they broke up after one year of dating, due to the stresses of Clapton’s career, but they soon got back together the succeeding year in the winter of 2001, and Melia discovered that she was pregnant in June of the same year. That was when Eric Clapton decided to take the relationship one step further and proposed to her. The lovebirds finally married in 2002 in St Mary Megdalene Church in Clapton’s birthplace. The interesting thing about the wedding was that guests thought that it was a christening ceremony for the couple’s six months old daughter, but figured out when they arrived that it was a wedding ceremony.
Eric Clapton admitted that he was a womanizer, but finally decided to lead a longer-lasting relationship with Melia, and things were going pretty well for them. The couple was blessed with three daughters, July Rose 2001, Ella May 2003 and Sophie Bella 2005. In an interview with The Telegraph, Eric Clapton said “I used to identify my self-esteem with sex. Girlfriends became a way of avoiding being with myself. I’d see a woman in a room and I’d be magnetized and usually that would be dangerous because I don’t think you can be any good to anybody unless you’re OK on your own.”
Long before Eric and Melia started dating, Eric Clapton was married to the British photographer and model Pattie Boyd from 1979 to 1989, but the couple didn’t have any kids together. He was also involved in a relationship with the Italian model Lory Del Santo. Still, Eric and Melia’s love story is the longest in Eric’s relationship record, as previously he would change girlfriends whenever he wanted to.
Melia McErny was the supportive wife that Eric needed, especially after he suffered from peripheral neuropathy, which is severe back pain ‘ It’s hard to work to play the guitar and I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that it will not improve’ Clapton announced in an interview with Classic Rock Magazine. Eric had to cancel several tours due to the back pain he was suffering from, but the support he had from his wife kept pushing him further.
How does Melia McErny spend her time?
Melia is a philanthropist and a housewife, prefering to stay away from the limelight and is relatively secretive about her relationship, currently leading a normal life as a mother of three daughters, and dedicating her time to raising her kids. She doesn’t have any social media accounts, and the only time she appears is on the red carpet with Eric from time to time.
How Much Is Melia McErny’s net worth?
There is no data to be found about Melia McErny’s net worth, but as of late-2020, her husband Eric’s net worth is estimated to be over $450 million.