Ozzy Osbourne says meeting Sir Paul McCartney was like greeting Jesus.

The Black Sabbath frontman, 75, who is battling agony from his back surgeries and a rare form of Parkinson’s, made the comparison while recalling his first meeting with The Beatles icon, 81, on ‘The Osbournes Podcast’.

He said: “I’m a big Beatles fan and when I first met Paul McCartney, it was like meeting Jesus Christ.

“He was a very nice man. And when I got a Grammy, he followed up with my producer to congratulate me. That was very, very special.”

A video of Ozzy meeting Paul has gone viral online, in which Paul fakes shock at seeing the rocker getting into his dressing room, but then hugging his admirer, with Ozzy telling his idol he was the “reason I got into music”.

In a 2020 chat with NME, Ozzy also discussed how he knew he wanted to be a musician when he heard The Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’ as a 15-year-old.

He said: “My dad knew I was an avid, fucking freaked-out Beatles fan.

“I loved them. They were the reason why.”

Meanwhile, Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne, 71, recently revealed her husband is planning “two more shows to say goodbye” before he fully retires from performing live.

She told Music News: “He won’t tour again but we are planning on doing two more shows to say goodbye as he feels like, ‘I have never said goodbye to my fans and I want to say goodbye.’

“His voice is still absolutely perfect. And all the time he has been off he still does his singing lessons. Even if you don’t like his music, you can’t not like Ozzy.”

She reportedly hinted Ozzy would stage his pair of farewell concerts at the Villa Park football stadium in his home city of Birmingham.