ERIC CLAPTON - CLAPTON INVITED TO PLAY NORTH KOREA GIG

Rock legend ERIC CLAPTON has been invited by North Korean officials to play a gig in the Communist country - to teach its people about the music of the Western world. The guitar great, 62, has become the first Western musician to receive such an invitation to hold a concert in the capital city of Pyongyang, in a move diplomats hope will help to build cultural ties with foreign countries. An unnamed official says, "Eric Clapton is a well-known musician and guitarist, famous throughout the world. "It will be a good opportunity for Western music to be understood better by Koreans." Clapton's representatives have yet to comment on the invitation, although the Layla singer is reported to have agreed a tentative deal for 2009. The news comes on the same day (26Feb08) as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's historic concert in Pyongyang - the first ever U.S. cultural visit to North Korea.