The iconic metal band Metallica has received Sweden's prestigious Polar Music Prize. In a ceremony broadcast live on Swedish national television, Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Roberto Trujillo along with fellow laureate Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) and Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, accepted the award at the Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sweden from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. You can watch the acceptance speech and some performances now here.




Deep Purple's Ian Paice and Roger Glover introduced Metallica. Ghost frontman Tobias Forge, along with members of Candlemass and the Swedish duo Vargas & Lagola, performed Metallica's "Enter Sandman" to honor the winners. Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén and former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee covered "Whiplash," and Swedish multi-instrumentalist Loney Dear handled "No Leaf Clover/Wherever I May Roam."








The band said: "The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by the late Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, a true legend in the history of Swedish popular music as the publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA. The name of the prize stems from Anderson's renowned record label, Polar Music, and each year the Polar Music Prize awards two laureates in order to celebrate music in all its various forms and to emphasize the original intention of the prize: to break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all different worlds of music and promote geographical and musical diversity. We are in awe of the distinguished, diverse group of laureates we will be joining including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Sonny Rollins, Yo-Yo Ma, Dizzy Gillespie, Isaac Stern and Ennio Morricone just to name a few of the previous award recipients."

Each honoree receives a total amount of one million SEK and Metallica will be donating that prize to their foundation, All Within My Hands.

Source:	metallica.com
Band profile:	Metallica