Editing Layla (section)

==Background==
[[File:George Harrison and Pattie Boyd.jpg|thumb|George Harrison and Pattie Boyd {{circa|1966}}]]
In 1966, [[The Beatles|Beatles]] guitarist [[George Harrison]] married [[Pattie Boyd]], a model he met two years before during the filming of ''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]''. During the late 1960s, Clapton and Harrison became close friends. Clapton contributed uncredited (although openly acknowledged) guitar work on Harrison's song "[[While My Guitar Gently Weeps]]" on the Beatles' [[The Beatles (album)|self-titled double album]] (also known as the White Album), and Harrison co-wrote and played guitar on [[Cream (band)|Cream]]'s "[[Badge (song)|Badge]]" from ''[[Goodbye (Cream album)|Goodbye]]''. However, between his tenures in Cream and [[Blind Faith]], Clapton fell in love with Boyd.{{sfn|Clapton|2007|p=106}}

The title of "Layla" was inspired by the story of ''[[Layla and Majnun]]'', which Clapton had been told by his friend [[Abdalqadir as-Sufi|Ian Dallas]],{{sfn|Clapton|2007|p=109}} who was in the process of converting to [[Islam]]. Nizami's tale, about a moon princess who was married off by her father to a man she did not love, resulting in Majnun's madness, struck a deep chord with Clapton.<ref>{{cite web|last=Patterson|first=Jean|url= http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/63_folder/63_articles/63_clapton.html|title=Crazy About "Layla": Eric Clapton Song Inspired by Nizami, 12th century Azerbaijani Poet|date=Autumn 1998|publisher=Azerbaijan International|access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref>

Boyd divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Clapton in 1979 during a concert stop in [[Tucson, Arizona]].{{sfn|Boyd|Junor|2008|p={{page needed|date=June 2020}}}} Harrison was not bitter about the divorce and attended Clapton's wedding party with his former bandmates [[Ringo Starr]] and [[Paul McCartney]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://americansongwriter.com/remember-when-eric-clapton-married-pattie-boyd-george-harrisons-ex-45-years-ago/|title=Remember When Eric Clapton Married Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's Ex, 45 Years Ago|newspaper=American Songwriter|author=
Matt Friedlander|date=27 March 2024|access-date=21 November 2024}}</ref> During their relationship, Clapton wrote another love ballad for Boyd, "[[Wonderful Tonight]]" (1977).<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/pattie-boyd-woman-behind-eric-claptons-wonderful-tonight|title=Pattie Boyd: The Woman Behind Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight'|magazine=Guitar World|author=Tony Grassi|date=31 July 2011|access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2021828_2021854_2021947,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001073531/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2021828_2021854_2021947,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 October 2010|title=George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd|magazine=Time|author=Claire Suddath|date=28 September 2010|access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref>