Former US president Jimmy Carter hailed the achievements of the Allman Brothers Band when he gave Gregg Allman an honourary doctorate at the weekend.
And he said the band was instrumental in helping him attain his highest office, which he held from 1977 to 1981.
The ceremony took place at the Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where the band started out – and nearly reduced the keyboardist to tears.
Carter said: “When the Allman Brothers, back in 1976, adopted me and began to let the nation know I was okay with them, most people said, ‘Well, if he’s okay with the Allman Brothers then he must be qualified to be president.”
He added that Allman’s honourary doctorate of the humanities was presented “in recognition of a truly extraordinary accomplishment in creative work.”
Allman is one of only three musicians to have been decorated by the university, after bandmate Chuck Leavell and Little Richard. He performed a short set including classic track Midnight Rider before the ceremony.
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