Sheeran's earliest memories include listening to the records of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Elton John's Greatest Hits.[34] According to Sheeran, the album that introduced him to music was Van Morrison's Irish Heartbeat.[9] During his childhood his father took him to live concerts that would inspire his musical creations. These included seeing Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall, Paul McCartney in Birmingham, and Bob Dylan.[136] On the influence of Clapton, Sheeran states, "He's the reason I started playing guitar".[137] He singled out Clapton's performance at the Party at the Palace in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, "I was eleven when I saw Eric Clapton play at the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert in June 2002. I remember him walking on stage with this rainbow-coloured Stratocaster and playing the first riff of "Layla".