Melia McEnery is an American philanthropist who got into the limelight thanks to her marriage to rock legend Eric Clapton. Eric is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the only three time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and of Cream.
Melia was born in Ohio on February 1976 to a Scottish-English father and a Korean – Irish mother. Her father was a construction worker while her mother was a homemaker. She attended Bishop Watterson High School and afterwards went ahead to get a degree in art. She then moved to California and there she worked various odd jobs to earn a living before moving into the design industry. She started working with Giorgio Armani as an assistant and later a sales executive.
Eric and Melia met in 1999 while attending a Giorgio Armani party in Los Angeles where Melia was part of the event planners. Even though she wasn’t really supposed to interract with the guests, Melia couldn’t resist trying to get an autograph from Eric Clapton for her uncle. The pair hit it off from the start and very soon started dating each other for a year then broke up.
In the winter of 2,000 the pair decided to officially get back together. A few months later on June 2001, Clapton proposed to McEnery at their family home in Columbus, Ohio. They then got married in 2002 on New Year’s Day in a private ceremony at St Mary Magdalene church, Ripley, Surrey. They have been blessed with three daughters by the names Julie Rose (2001), Ella May (2003) and Sophie Belle (2005).
Eric has categorized Melia as the only woman he has ever has a “geniuinely equal relationship” and was fascinated by her strength. Initially he had a reputation for being a womanizer and has been open about it.
“I used to identify my self-esteem with sex. Girlfriends became a way of avoiding being with myself,” he explained to The Telegraph. “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.”
Melia has also been a great pillar for her husband when he strated having health struggles.
Melia has been engaging in various philanthropic causes. She works as a Senior Clinical Advisor for Crossroads Centre Antigua which is a rehab facility in the West Indies. It was established by Eric Clapton in 1998 to help people recover effectively from alcohol and drug addiction. In addition to this, she is on the board of a number of children charities.
