Kemp honors civil rights veteran, viral 'Pants on the Ground' singer with commendation
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp honored a civil rights veteran and viral "American Idol" star with an official commendation.
On Tuesday, Kemp shared a photo of himself, the first lady, and "General" Larry Platt, the 73-year-old civil rights veteran.
In a tweet, Kemp called Platt "an outstanding Georgian and American hero."
"We were honored to present him with an official commendation to recognize his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, the State of Georgia, and the U.S.," Kemp wrote.
Platt, who had been shot in the eye by the Ku Klux Klan at the age of 3, helped organize sit-in protests during segregation and marched on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the infamous Bloody Sunday in 1965 with Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Hosea Williams, and former Congressman John Lewis.
The nickname of "General" was given to Platt by Williams for his actions in the civil rights movement.
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But Platt became most known across the country in 2010, when he performed his original hit "Pants on the Ground" at an audition for the "American Idol's" ninth season, winning over judges Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi — and earning a nervous endorsement from incurable skeptic Simon Cowell.
"I have a horrible feeling that song could be a hit," Cowell reluctantly predicted.
Platt's fan base exploded after the show Wednesday night, as his audition hit YouTube and Twitter. Within hours, he had been clicked and tweeted into one of the Internet's most popular topics.
The song was inspired by Platt seeing a young father with his jeans below his waist, saying that that he and his civil rights colleagues sacrificed too much for today's youth to walk around with sagging pants.
Now in his 70s, Platt still remains active protesting foreclosures, war, violence, racism and "any wicked things that take place."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.