Queen will be honored at this year’s Polar Music Prize

Fredrik Åkesson, guitarist for Opeth, will perform with Ghost at this year’s Polar Music Prize. The celebration, which will honor American jazz great Herbie Hancock, Canadian singer and conductor Barbara Hannigan, and the iconic rock band Queen, will take place at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm on Tuesday, May 27. It will be televised live in Sweden on TV4 at 8 p.m. CET. In addition, Miriam Bryant, former Skid Row singer Erik Grönwall, jazz musicians Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper, and Leo Genovese, Adam Lambert, who has been touring the world for the past 13 years, and two of Queen‘s surviving members, Brian May and Roger Taylor, will perform at the gala under the Queen + Adam Lambert banner. The Polar Music Prize has celebrated and acknowledged innovative musical heritage for thirty years. The 2025 winners will join the ranks of contemporary and classical music pioneers, obtaining one of the most sought-after contemporary honors. The Swedish Royal Family attends a ceremony in Stockholm to deliver the Polar Music Prize, and each laureate will receive one million Swedish Krona, or roughly £74,082 GBP and $93,897 USD.

We are highly and deeply honored to be given the Polar Music Prize this year. It’s incredible, thank you so much. Queen

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.

Marie Ledin, managing director of the Polar Music Prize

In 1989, Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, a legendary figure in Swedish popular music history, established the Polar Music Prize. As ABBA‘s manager, publisher, and lyricist, Stig Anderson was instrumental in the group’s phenomenal success. Awarded to individuals, groups, or institutions for worldwide acknowledgment of excellence in the music industry, the medal honors the power and significance of music and is named after Anderson’s renowned record label Polar Music.