• Writer: Eric Clapton
• Producer: Glyn Johns
• Recorded: May 1977 at Olympic Studios, London, England
• Released: October 1977
• Players:
  Eric Clapton — vocals, guitar
  George Terry — guitars
  Jaime Oldaker — drums
  Dick Sims — organ
  Yvonne Elliman — vocals
  Marcy Levy — vocals
  Carl Radle — bass
• Album: Slowhand (RSO/Polydor, 1977)
• Also On:
  Just One Night (RSO, 1980)
  Timepieces: The Best Of Eric Clapton (RSO, 1982)
  Crossroads (Polydor, 1988)
  24 Nights (Duck, 1991)
  The Cream Of Eric Clapton (Chronicles, 1995)
  Crossroads 2 (Live In The Seventies) (Chronicles, 1996)
• This gentle love song was written for Eric Clapton‘s future wife Pattie, whom he wooed away from George Harrison.
• Clapton says he wrote the song while waiting for Pattie to get dressed for a night out. They were running very late, and yet Pattie was insisting on trying on virtually every dress in her wardrobe. She kept coming downstairs wearing something new, and Clapton kept saying, “You look wonderful. Can we go now?” Eventually, he got sick of this and picked up a guitar, just to keep himself occupied, and composed “Wonderful Tonight.” Clapton told Rolling Stone, “‘Wonderful Tonight’ has a little bit of irony in it. I didn’t write it in a particular good mood. I wrote it because my (future) wife was late getting ready to go out. I was in a foul temper about it.”
• The song has become a favorite at weddings and other romantic occasions, which pleases Clapton. He said, “Every now and then you fall in love again, albeit with the same woman, just for one night for some reason, something she’s said or the way she’s approached the situation, and Bang! — you’re in love again, and it’s such a strong feeling you can’t do anything else but write it down.”
• The song was a Billboard Top 20 hit for Clapton in 1978.

FAST FORWARD:

• Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times — with the Yardbirds, with Cream, and as a solo artist.
• Clapton was awarded a Member Of The British Empire (MBE) honor from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1995, which was upgraded to Commander Of The British Empire (CBE) in December 2003.
• Clapton has devoted himself to establishing and maintaining the Crossroads Centre Antigua drug-and-alcohol-treatment facility.
• Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago on July 28th of this year, a benefit for the Crossroads facility, was filmed and has recently been released on DVD.
• In 2005, Clapton reunited with singer-bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker for Cream shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London and Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’s unknown whether they’ll play together again.
• Clapton published his memoirs in 2007.

Clapton recently played three nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden with his old Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood.