VIA: AJC.com
The popularity of “Pants on the Ground” singer Larry Platt continued to soar Friday morning, as Internet users flocked to videos of the Atlanta man’s anthem against the sagging of trousers.
Thursday night, “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon imitated Neil Young singing a bluesy version of “Pants,” and Platt has been booked as a guest on Monday’s ABC show, “The View.”
Facebook users have set up more than 500 “fan” pages honoring Platt and his song, with more than 600,000 people signing on as followers of those pages by early Friday.
On YouTube, dozens of uploaded versions of Platt’s Wednesday night “American Idol” appearance had been viewed more than 1 million times.
In an interview with the AJC’s Rodney Ho on Thursday, the 63-year-old Platt, who marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Hosea Williams during civil rights demonstrations in the ’60s, said he was inspired to create the now-famous song three years ago when he saw a guy walking along a downtown Atlanta street with a baby in his arms and his pants slipping below his hips.
“He had his underwear showing,” Platt said. The song came to him spontaneously, and he started chanting the chorus to “Pants on the Ground.”
“He was being disrespectful so I wanted to embarrass him,” Platt told the AJC. “He rolled his eyes and pulled his pants up a little bit.”
