photo credit: Jill Furmanovsky
It was recently announced that the Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman, Nile Rodgers, will be the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Polar Music Prize.
The Polar Music Prize has recognized and celebrated excellence in music for over three decades. Now Nile will join the ranks of trailblazers and innovators from the contemporary and classical worlds of music who have been awarded the Polar Music Prize, one of music’s most prestigious accolades. It will be presented at a ceremony in Stockholm on Tuesday, May 21 by His Majesty the King Carl XVI Gustaf at Stockholm Palace. On being awarded the 2024 Polar Music Prize, Nile said: “This is a tremendous honour for me, I’ve had a love affair with the people of Sweden for as long as I can remember and your early acknowledgement of the art of people of colour from Eric Dolphy to Jimi Hendrix is very important to me. It’s particularly meaningful as so many of my favorite songwriters from Bjorn and Benny, Max Martin and my dear friend the late Tim “Avicii” Bergling have changed music all over the world. I’m so looking forward to coming to Stockholm to receive this amazing award.”
In 2023 Nile became the first creator to be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his legacy in the same year as being awarded a Grammy for his latest work with Beyonce on the smash hit “Cuff It”. In 2024 he received the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award for his extraordinary efforts to make the world a more peaceful, equal and inclusive place through his music, his exemplary commitment to fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice, and by championing innovative youth voices to decision-making tables. Additionally, he is also the face of the Chanel 2024 eyewear campaign and has been in the studio working on projects with J-Hope (BTS), Beyonce and Coldplay and he will be on the road throughout the year with CHIC on a world tour.