Zeppelin, Gergiev Win Polar Music Prize

By Jeffrey de Hart

STOCKHOLM (Billboard) – Defunct rock act Led Zeppelin and
Russian conductor Valery Gergiev were on Monday awarded the
annual Polar Music Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music,
joining such laureates as Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie,
Quincy Jones and Joni Mitchell.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will award the one million
Swedish kronor prizes May 22 at a gala ceremony at
Konserthuset, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra’s
concert hall, where the annual Nobel Prize ceremony is held.

The citation issued by the Academy called Led Zeppelin “one
of the great pioneers of rock” and commented that the band’s
“playful and experimental music combined with highly eclectic
elements has two essential themes: mysticism and primal
energy.”

Gergiev, the founder and artistic director of many
international music festivals, was cited for “the way his
unique, electrifying musical skills have deepened and renewed
our relationship with the grand tradition; and for how he has
managed to develop and amplify the importance of artistic music
in these modern, changing times.”

The Polar Music Prize is awarded annually based on
nominations submitted by the board of the Stig Anderson Music
Award Foundation, consisting of representatives from the family
of the late ABBA impresario, the Swedish Society of Popular
Music Composers (SKAP) and the Swedish Performing Rights
Society (STIM).

Reuters/Billboard