Queen has been chosen as one of three 2025 recipients of Sweden’s prestigious Polar Music Prize. The award is presented annually to “individuals, groups or institutions for international recognition of excellence in the world of music.”
The 2025 Polar Music Prize honorees will be saluted at a ceremony scheduled for May 27 at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, Sweden. Joining the British rock legends in receiving the award are American jazz great Herbie Hancock and Canadian opera singer and conductor Barbara Hannigan.
Videos by American Songwriter
Polar Music Prize will be presented to the laureates in the presence of the Swedish Royal Family. Each laureate will receive a monetary prize of 1 million Swedish Krona (about $94,000).
Queen guitarist Brian May said of the band receiving the award, “We are highly and deeply honored to be given the Polar Music Prize this year. [It’s] incredible, thank you so much.”
Queen drummer Roger Taylor also commented, “It’s a wonderful, magnificent occasion. Thank you so much.”
Added Marie Ledin, the Polar Music Prize’s managing director, “It is our immense privilege to honor and award these three Laureates at the 2025 Polar Music Prize. Queen, a band synonymous with the very fabric of pop culture, have made an impact on music that spans decades, generations and genres. They are a most deserving recipient, beloved the world over.”
Video Announcement About Queen Being Honored Polar Music Prize
A video announcement about Queen being chosen to receive Polar Music Prize has been posted on the organization’s YouTube channel.
The nine-minute presentation includes a new interview with May and Taylor discussing Queen’s history, the creation of some of its classic songs, and why the band has had such enduring appeal.
During the video, may talked a bit about the band’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury, who died of AIDS in 1991.
“He’s very complex, Freddie,” the guitarist noted. “[He was] basically a very shy person, who’s developed this way of becoming this incredibly powerful character onstage, and he understands how people connect. We had one of the greatest singers in the world in Freddie, of course. I don’t think we quite knew it at the time, but there he goes.”
The video also featured a statement about why Queen is a worthy choice to receive the Polar Music Prize.
“With the foundation in hard rock, Queen have developed a distinctive and instantly recognizable sound that no one else can emulate,” the statement begins. “Furious energy and muscular playing are combined with intricate virtuoso harmony singing from drummer Roger Taylor, guitarist Brian May and, of course, singer Freddie Mercury, one of the most charismatic front figures in the history of music, with a voice that spanned four octaves.”
The proclamation continues, “What helped to make Queen a unique band in music history was four equally strong songwriters, including bassist John Deacon. The band wrote all their own number-one hits, and constantly spurred each other on to take artistic risks. Half a century after they made their recordings, Queen’s songs are still heard everywhere and appeal to new generations of listeners. Queen were not exaggerating when they sang ‘We Are the Champions.’”
More About the Polar Music Prize
The Polar Music Prize was established in 1989 by Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, the publisher, lyricist, and manager of ABBA.
Among the many previous honorees are Nile Rodgers, Iggy Pop, Metallica, Sting, Emmylou Harris, Chuck Berry, Paul Simon, Patti Smith, Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, Burt Bacharach, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Quincy Jones, and Paul McCartney.