Spanish pop star Alejandro Sanz was awarded an honorary doctorate by staff at a top music college on Wednesday (06Nov13).

The Madrid-based recording artist stepped into a music school for the first time when he accepted the award from the Berklee College of Music, near Boston, Massachusetts, in front of 1,200 students.

Sanz has sold more than 23 million records worldwide and has won both Grammys and Latin Grammys, but insisted it was bizarre to receive an honorary degree.

He tells Billboard, "I was very happy but I thought they were crazy. But I wanted to learn about the school. It's my first time inside a music school, and I was very happy to get to know the students."