Metallica awarded Sweden’s highest musical honour

Yesterday in Stockholm, Metallica were awarded the Polar Music Prize, which is Sweden’s highest honour for musicians.

Ian Paice and Roger Glover from Deep Purple introduced Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo from the band, with Paice perhaps going a little too far, comparing them to classical composers.

“Not since Wagner’s emotional turmoil and Tchaikovsky’s cannons — which I loved — has anyone created music that was so physical and furious, and yet so accessible. Through virtuoso ensemble playing and its use of extremely accelerated tempos, Metallica has taken rock music to places it had never been before. In Metallica’s world, both a teenage bedroom and a concert hall can be transformed into a veritable Valhalla. The strength of the band’s uncompromising albums has helped millions of listeners to transform their sense of alienation into a superpower. Good on ya’.”

In case you thought that was ridiculous, they were then given the award by King Carl XVI Gustaf.

“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”, Ulrich said.