Queen – along with fellow honorees 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”.
“When we started our band…we had ambitions, but never dreamed of the journey that was to follow,” says Roger Taylor. “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.”
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.
Pick up some Queen for your collection here.
See also:
Queen named 2025 Polar Music Prize Laureates
Queen revisits early drum sound on The Story Of Queen 1
Queen stream 1975 performance of Keep Yourself Alive
Queen upgrades cover art for 1973 debut album reissue
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