Eric Clapton has ended a gig in Madrid early after having a vinyl record thrown at his chest while he was on stage.
The veteran rockstar was playing at the Movistar Arena in the Spanish capital on Thursday night (May 7) as part of his current European tour, and as he was winding down a hits-packed set, a fan in one of the front rows hurled a vinyl LP at Clapton, hitting him on the chest.
The guitarist had just finished a rendition of ‘Cocaine’, and had been scheduled to return for an encore of ‘Before You Accuse Me’, but in the end he chose not to retake the stage.
Watch footage of the incident, along with footage from the show, here:
Very sad indeed. What kind of idiot does that? pic.twitter.com/0bNZ3wYFU7
— Pablo Rodríguez (@Paulhewsonrm) May 7, 2026
Eric Clapton played:
‘Badge’
‘Key To The Highway’
‘I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man’
‘I Shot The Sheriff’
‘Kind Hearted Woman Blues’
‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’
‘Golden Ring’
‘Layla’
‘Tears In Heaven’
‘Holy Mother’
‘Cross Road Blues’
‘Little Queen Of Spades’
‘Cocaine’
Clapton is set to play a huge one-off show in the UK this summer, at the Sandringham Estate on August 23. He will be joined on the bill by Ronnie Wood and His Band, as well as Andy Fairweather Low and The Low Riders, and you can find any remaining tickets here.
The former Cream and Derek And The Dominos star’s latest album was ‘Meanwhile’ in 2024, which included feature appearances from Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Bradley Walker, Judith Hill, Daniel Santiago, and Simon Climie.
Last year, MTV aired a 30th anniversary celebration of Clapton’s celebrated Unplugged show from 1992, the album of which sold over 26million copies and went on to be the best-selling live album of all time.
During the intimate performance, Clapton reimagined his catalogue with first-time acoustic arrangements of hits such as ‘Layla’ and ‘Tears In Heaven’. The singer-songwriter also paid homage to the blues music that influenced him, playing classics like ‘Before You Accuse Me’ (originally recorded by Bo Diddley) and ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’ (by Bessie Smith).
In 2024, Clapton hit out at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame – despite him being a three-time inductee. “I think of it as a frat boys club that happened to lure [me] in,” he explained. “It’s not a place for rebels. It’s establishment stuff.”
