Metallica have been announced as the next recipients of Sweden's Polar Prize, a prestigious music award that BBC calls "the Nobel Prize of music." Metallica are the first metal band to win the award, which has been given to such legends as Paul McCartney, BB King, Joni Mitchell and Chuck Berry.
Polar Prize organizers celebrate Metallica noting they could turn "a teenage bedroom into a Valhalla".
"The 2018 Polar Music Prize is awarded to the American band Metallica. Not since Wagner's emotional turmoil and Tchaikovsky's cannons has anyone created music that is so physical and furious, and yet still 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 Valhalla. The strength of the band's uncompromising albums has helped millions of listeners to transform their sense of alienation into a superpower."
The band will be awarded their £90,000 prize in Sweden in June. They will be donating the money to All Within My Hands, which helps communities in need through food banks, disaster relief and music therapy.
Lars was quoted as saying "It puts us in very distinguished company. It's a great validation of everything that Metallica has done over the last 35 years. At the same time, we feel like we're in our prime with a lot of good years ahead of us."
James Hetfield added: "As myself and as Metallica I'm grateful to have this as part of our legacy, our history."
Hetfield has been keeping busy, with his first acting role in a Ted Bundy biopic starring Zac Efron. Hetfield plays a highway patrolman.
