Metallica donate their £85,000 Polar Music Prize money to charity
Metallica have donated their prize money from winning the coveted Polar Music Prize to three separate charities.
All suited and booted, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo received the honour from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the lavish ceremony in Stockholm last Thursday night (14th June).
It’s now emerged that the metal legends have given their award money of one million Swedish Kroner (around £85,000) to charity.
50% of the money is going to the Stockholm City Mission to support the homeless, 25% to the World Childhood Foundation, founded by Sweden’s Queen Silvia, and 25% to the co-recipient of the award, Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM), which was founded in 2010 in response to the country’s civil war and destruction of centuries of rich musical tradition.
> Tonight – along with fellow laureate Dr. Ahmad Sarmast – we are honored to be awarded the @PolarMusicPrize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The ceremony will be on @TV4 in Sweden at 20.00 CET and can also be streamed on TV4 Play. #PolarMusicPrize pic.twitter.com/ZoKv0aEbu5 > > — Metallica (@Metallica) June 14, 2018
“Many of the Polar Music Prize laureates over the years have donated their prize money to charity," managing director of the Polar Music Prize Marie Ledin told Billboard. "It's not something we ask of them, but we appreciate their generosity."
Upon accepting the award last week, Lars 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?
“The type of music that we play was not supposed to be acknowledged or embraced by the mainstream, the media, or even large audiences. In 1981 when this band formed, I just wanted to play music in a collective setting and feel like I belonged to something bigger than myself.”
Last month Metallica participated in their inaugural All Within My Hands Foundation ‘Day Of Service’, where they volunteered at food banks and encouraged fans to do the same.
> Great day at the Food Bank with Lars from @Metallica paying a visit. It was part of @AWMHFoundation "Day of Service" events taking place all over US! $5K donation and lots of smiles. #MetallicaGivesBack #AWMF #FoodForAll pic.twitter.com/RaTQRR1GVQ > > — San Francisco-Marin Food Bank (@SFMFoodBank) May 23, 2018
"Our primary thing for the last year has been, all over where Metallica goes to, to support local food banks," says Ulrich. "We write checks in every city. We just played a 39-day European tour where we wrote checks to the local food banks."
Metallica have confirmed they will return to Europe in the summer of 2019 for a four-month run of stadium shows.