Ozzy Osbourne thought Eric Clapton hated him
Ozzy Osbourne spent a decade thinking he was hated by Eric Clapton.
The 73-year-old rocker has always been a huge fan of the legendary guitarist, but Ozzy thought he'd made a terrible first impression when they met at the International Rock Awards in New York City in 1989, when Ozzy posed for a photo alongside Grace Jones and Clapton.
The music icon - who posed with his eyes bulging and his mouth wide open - explained: "I was having my photo taken with Grace Jones and all of a sudden Eric was there. I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to think I’m a total d*******’.
"I didn’t realise he’d also just come out of rehab and was freaking out as much as me."
Ozzy was asked to do the pose by a nearby cameraman. But he quickly became paranoid about what Clapton would think of him.
The former Black Sabbath frontman - who has battled drug and alcohol abuse - told The Sun newspaper: "Reluctantly, I did the look. And I immediately became possessed with the thought that Eric Clapton must hate me."
However, a decade later, the iconic stars were reunited at a rehab facility in the US. And Ozzy eventually realised that the 'Tears In Heaven' hitmaker didn't hate him at all.
He recalled: "I was at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the (San Fernando) Valley in LA. I look over my shoulder and there’s Eric.
"I’d just spent ten years saying to myself, ‘He must think I’m the biggest d*** on the planet’.
"At the end of the meeting, I decided to get the f*** out of there big time just to avoid him. So, I got in the car and zapped off home.
"Three weeks later, he’s there again and, as I walk across the room, he goes, ‘Ozzy! It’s good to see you'.
"We had a chat and I thought, ‘Wow, what a nice guy’. It was all about my paranoia."
