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James Blunt gets honorary degree in Bristol
James Blunt returned to Bristol to pick up an honorary degree at the university where penned some of his best known hits.
The Marmite singer-songwriter, who proudly declared he was passing on his Cockney rhyming title to Jeremy Hunt last week, was awarded a Doctor of Music honorary degree by the University of Bristol, where he was a student from 1992 to 1996.
“This is a huge and perhaps slightly undeserved honour from the place where I had some of my most rewarding and memorable years,” Blunt said on receiving his award.
It was at university that he wrote Wisemen, which appeared on his first album Back to Bedlam, while studying for his Sociology degree.
During his studies Blunt wrote a thesis titled The Commodification of Image – Production of a Pop Idol.
His debut album, which included the single You’re Beautiful, went on to sell 11 million copies and won him a host of music industry awards including two Brit Awards and a number of Grammy nominations.
His time at university was sponsored by by the British Army, and he joined the Life Guards, a cavalry regiment, upon graduating in 1996.
He served as part of the United Nation’s peacekeeping force in Kosovo, during which time he rose to the rank of Captain and commanded 30,000 troops into Pristina.
In 2010 he famously declared he prevented World War Three by refusing an order to attack Russian troops while on duty in Kosovo.
In front of a packed audience of new graduates in the Wills Memorial Building, Max Austin, undergraduate education officer at the University of Bristol Students’ Union, said: “James, who throughout his life has always sought to develop his passion and talent for music, but not necessarily through academic study, is a perfect example of how the range of experiences and opportunities you get at university may in fact become the defining aspect of your life.”
Main picture from Bhagesh Sachania/University of Bristol
Read more: 22 amazing facts about Bristol Uni
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