Eric Clapton Feels ‘Ostracized’ By Friends Over His COVID Views

Eric Clapton has revealed that his polarizing views on the coronavirus pandemic have strained his private relationships.

“I’ve tried to reach out to fellow musicians,” the famed guitarist defined throughout an interview with YouTube channel Oracle Films. “I just don’t hear from them anymore. My phone doesn’t ring very often. I don’t get that many texts and emails any more. It’s quite noticeable.”

Clapton vocally challenged the U.Okay.’s COVID-related lockdown legal guidelines, even going as far as to launch a single alongside Van Morrison condemning his authorities’s actions.

“I thought quite strongly about taking my family away from England,” the rocker admitted. “We’ll go and live somewhere else, we’ll start somewhere else.”

Despite having a “terrible fear of needles,” Clapton reluctantly acquired the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this yr “for my kids.” The guitarist encountered extreme reactions to the photographs, together with fever, bother sleeping and robust painful emotions in his fingers and ft. “The vaccine took my immune system and shook it around,” the rocker defined, including that the expertise “frightened the shit out of me.”

While many medical professionals (and celebrities) have expressed their assist for vaccines, touting them as a secure and efficient approach for society to return to regular, Clapton’s detrimental response has rendered him a vocal minority. His feedback in opposition to each lockdowns and vaccinations have been met with criticism.

“I was ostracized. And I could feel that everywhere,” the guitarist declared, noting that he even felt rejected inside his family. “I could feel alienation because I held a different view.”

Now, on each side of the pond, reside concert events are poised to return. Though many individuals are crediting the rollout of vaccines and continued social distancing measures with curbing the virus’ unfold, Clapton stays steadfast in his beliefs.

“I believe most of all in free speech and freedom of movement. And life and love and kindness,” the long-lasting musician defined. “I’ve seen scorn and contempt from both sides. And I get caught in the crossfire a lot. But I don’t really feel educated enough to know enough about either of these areas.”

See Eric Clapton’s Guitar Hero Yearbook Picture