METALLICA Donates POLAR MUSIC PRIZE Money To Three Charities

According to Billboard, METALLICA has donated its monetary award from the Polar Music Prize to three charities. 50 percent of the one-million-Swedish-Kroner prize (just over $130,000) went to the Stockholm City Mission, which supports the homeless; 25 percent to the World Childhood Foundation, founded by Sweden's Queen Silvia; and 25 percent to the Afghanistan National Institute Of Music, also a recipient of this year's Polar Music Prize.

"Many of the Polar Music Prize laureates over the years have donated their prize money to charity," Marie Ledin, managing director of the Prize, told Billboard. "It's not something we ask of them, but we appreciate their generosity. I know my father, Stig Anderson, would be very happy and proud to know of our laureates' great charitable donations."

Sweden's biggest music award, the Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, the manager and music publisher of ABBA. A well-known lyricist, he also was the co-writer on many of their early hits. The prize was first presented in 1992.

Previous winners of the Polar Music Prize include Elton John, Sting, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, LED ZEPPELIN, PINK FLOYD, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Max Martin and Bruce Springsteen.

The Polar Music Prize honors two laureates every year to "celebrate music in all its various forms" and "to break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music."

METALLICA was awarded the Polar Music Prize on Thursday night (June 14) at a ceremony in Stockholm, where drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo watched GHOST frontman Tobias Forge, along with members of Swedish metal act CANDLEMASS and the duo VARGAS & LAGOLA, honor the band with a performance of the METALLICA classic "Enter Sandman".

Swedish singer Loney Dear performed "Wherever I May Roam" and "No Leaf Clover", while REFUSED frontman Dennis Lyxzen and ex-MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee covered the song "Whiplash". Reading the citation for METALLICA were DEEP PURPLE's Ian Paice and Roger Glover.

Ulrich and Trujillo accepted the prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. In his acceptance speech, Ulrich said: "Who would have thought, when METALLICA started this musical journey 37 years ago, that one day we would be standing in front of both musical royalty and actual royalty, accepting one of the most prestigious prizes that can be bestowed upon musicians."