QUEEN, HERBIE HANCOCK AND BARBARA HANNIGAN AWARDED THE POLAR MUSIC PRIZE 2025

STAR-STUDDED CEREMONY TOOK PLACE TONIGHT AT THE GRAND HOTEL IN STOCKHOLM

INCLUDED EXCLUSIVE PERFORMANCES FROM ADAM LAMBERT AND GHOST WITH OPETH GUITARIST FREDRIK ÂKESSON

AWARDS PRESENTED BY King Carl XVI Gustaf

#PolarMusicPrize

Stockholm, Sweden - Tues, 27 May 2025: Three musical icons were honoured with the Polar Music Prize 2025 tonight at a gala ceremony held in Stockholm, Sweden. Queen, Herbie Hancock and Barbara Hannigan were each presented with the prize by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Laureates receive prize money of one million Swedish Krona (approx. £77k GBP and $102k USD).

The ceremony and banquet took place at The Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden and was hosted by mezzo-soprano and journalist, Boel Adler. The evening featured live music from a spectacular line-up of artists including GRAMMY® nominated singer/songwriter and frontman of Queen, Adam Lambert, with a showstopping performance of Queen hits “Who Wants to Live Forever” and “Another One Bites the Dust”. Ghost, #1 on the Billboard 200 album charts, also took to the stage with Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson for an electrifying rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Other performances came from two, five-time GRAMMY® award winning artists – the jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding and pianist and producer Robert Glasper – who teamed up on Herbie Hancock’s “Trust Me” and “Watermelon Man”. French pianist Bertrand Chamayou gave a stunning surprise performance of “Stars” (from Pentagram No.3, Rudhyar) and “Trois Beaux Oiseaux De Paradis” (Ravel), with a moving speech dedicated to Barbara Hannigan.

GRAMMY® awarded Argentinian pianist Leo Genovese, plus two of Sweden’s pre-eminent voices Miriam Bryant and Erik Grönwall (from H.E.A.T and Skid Row), musicians from Musikhögskolan Ingesund, and the renowned Eric Ericson Chamber Choir also captivated the audience, which included previous Polar Music Prize Laureates Nile Rodgers (2024), Max Martin (2016), Anne-Sophie Mutter (2019) and Michael Pärt (son of Arvo Pärt - 2023).

On receiving the Polar Music Prize, Queen’s Roger Taylor said: “When we started our band…we had ambitions, but never dreamed of the journey that was to follow. We were fortunate in the fact that our four wildly different personalities came together to achieve a wonderful chemistry.

“The Polar Music Prize is exceptional in the fact that unlike other awards it recognises the entirety of an artiste’s career. What an honour to be included in the glittering cavalcade of previous laureates. True Olympian company indeed. We are so proud to be the recipients of this incredibly prestigious award.”

Brian May thanked Sweden on behalf of Queen, and added: “In this special moment, I contemplate how that younger Brian May in 1974 would have felt if he knew that we would be living this kind of dream 50 years in the future.”

Herbie Hancock said: “What an incredible honour to be with you here tonight, to receive the prestigious Polar Music Prize. I’m deeply humbled. I accept this award not just for myself, but on behalf of all the musicians, and dreamers who dare to believe that creativity and human connection can change the world.

“I truly believe that music and the arts can illuminate the path towards a more peaceful and compassionate world, and it is vital that we, the artists, give back and share our knowledge and experiences with the younger generations, our leaders of tomorrow.”

Barbara Hannigan said she was “deeply thankful for all the collaborations which have nurtured me”, adding: “I am humbled to be among these Laureates of "musical royalty", and to share the honours tonight with the legends who are Herbie Hancock and Queen.”

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by the late Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, a legend in the history of Swedish music and publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA, to celebrate excellence in music. Stig Anderson believed that music was equally as important to society as, for example, science, medicine and literature, and should have a prize to reflect this.

Previous recipients of the Polar Music Prize include Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Chuck Berry, Ennio Morricone, Led Zeppelin, Patti Smith, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rogers, Paul Simon, Kronos Quartet, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Metallica, Iggy Pop, Ravi Shankar, Renée Fleming, Miriam Makeba, Wayne Shorter, Sofia Gubaidulina and many more.

The 2025 event was broadcast live in Sweden via TV4 Play and TV4.

 www.polarmusicprize.org.

Photo: Annika Berglund/Polar Music Prize

 

 

 

 

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