Sting, Wayne Shorter win 2017 Polar Music Prize

Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — British musician and singer-songwriter Sting and American jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter have won the 2017 Polar Music Prizes.

Sting, the stage name of Gordon Sumner, was cited for putting "down his anchor in more musical harbors than perhaps any other artist of his generation."

The award panel said Tuesday that he "has combined classic pop with virtuoso musicianship and openness to all genres and sounds."

The panel said Shorter's music "is a means of learning more about all aspects of life and the universe." Shorter has worked in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet and Weather Report.

Both have been invited to receive their awards, including a cash prize of 1 million kronor ($114,000) each, June 15 from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm.