Sting and Wayne Shorter receive Polar Music Prize

The Swedish honor, awaded annually, was this year shared between a pop performer and composer and a jazz performer and composer. 

  • Singer-songwriter and composer Sting receives the prestigious 2017 Polar Music Award. Photo: Eric Ryan Anderson

  • Sting, the internationally renowned singer-songwriter and composer, and Wayne Shorter, the globally revered saxophonist and composer, have been announced as the 2017 Polar Music Prize Laureates. The pair will accept their prizes from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on June 15.
    The Polar Music Prize - worth 1 million kronor (~$112,000) and founded in 1989 to honor exceptional achievements that transcend music genres - is awarded annually. It is described as the "Nobel prize of music" and was established by the late Stikkan Anderson, whose successful record label, Polar Music, released the songs of among others ABBA.

  • Saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter receives the prestigious 2017 Polar Music Award. Photo: Robert Ascroft

  • “I am honored to receive the Polar Music Prize and to join past recipients who I have long admired and respected. I still maintain a childlike curiosity about music, along with a sense that I constantly need to work at it. So to be recognized in this way is truly meaningful. I am looking forward to coming to Sweden in June for this special evening,” Sting said after receiving the announcement.
    “I am deeply honoured to be awarded the 2017 Polar Music Prize and I’m looking forward to accepting it in Sweden, a country that has produced some great musicians and composers who have inspired the world. It’s another great adventure for me, during a life where I’ve always chosen the trail less travelled because it always takes you to more interesting discoveries."

  • The board of the Polar Music Prize Foundation consists of representatives from the Stig Anderson family, SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) and STIM (The Swedish Performing Rights Society). The task of scrutinizing nominations submitted and selecting the ultimate Laureates is empowered The Polar Music Award Committee comprising of internationally renowned artists and musicians as well as other key figures in the Swedish music industry. For more info about the prize, see www.polarmusicprize.org

  • Marie Ledin, managing director of the Polar Music Prize, said: “In Sting and Wayne Shorter we have two Laureates whose music continues to move, enthrall and influence millions of music fans around the world. Both are true music legends and embody the spirit of the Polar Music Prize. We are delighted that Sting and Wayne Shorter are our 2017 Laureates and we look forward to welcoming them to Stockholm for the ceremony in June.”