Will Ferrell belts love ballad to USC students in commencement address

LOS ANGELES (WPVI) -- Thousands of University of Southern California students walked away from their 2017 commencement with degrees and a powerful rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" from funnyman Will Ferrell.

Ferrell, who is a famous alum of the school, delivered the keynote commencement address at his alma mater Friday.

Ferrell graduated from USC with a degree in sports information, going on to star in Saturday Night Live for seven seasons. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the university just before delivering his address Friday.

Ferrell kicked off the address by cracking jokes that had the crowd cackling.

The actor joked that his wife and children must now refer to him by his new honorary title. "They have to address me as Dr. Ferrell. There will be no exceptions," Ferrell said.

Ferrell also joked that he'd given commencement addresses at multiple other institutions, including Trump University. "I'm still waiting to get paid by Trump University. Actually, I owe Trump University money," Ferrell said to peals of laughter.

Ferrell ended his hilarious address by belting out his best Whitney Houston to the delight of the attendees.