Clapton is, was, and always will be about half the musician Hendrix was with about a third of the creativity. Hendrix literally defined what we do on guitar to this day. Clapton was basically a guy who played blues when it got popular again and now plays basically elevator music. I love Cream but not because of what Clapton did.
As for musicians around that era doing relevent stuff now Tony Iommi/BlackSabbath comes to mind with Heaven and Hell which was a fantastic cd/band for the short time it was around.
Heaven and Hell was 32 years ago. How is that an example? My point wasn't to compare Hendrix with Clapton in terms of their playing ability. My point is, show me a guitarist/singer/songwriter who has remained relevant for the past 40+ years. History does not support the romanticized vision that if Hendrix were alive today that he'd still be cranking out music that anyone gives a {censored} about. Yes he was talented, yes he was an innovator, yes he wrote a {censored} ton of great songs in a short period of time. But time marches on and people age, and rock music typically belongs to the young. Hendrix was not special enough to trancend that fact. His death while still at his best indelibly stamped his genious upon rock music for all time. I believe that had he lived, he would not have had any more longevity than anyone else from his era. History just doesn't support it. Yes, there'd be baby boomers lining up to see sold out shows at $100+ a seat, but would that have more to do with reliving their youth or seeing an artist that still made music that mattered? Sadly, we'll never know.