On Thursday (June 14th) Metallica received the Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at an insane Stockholm ceremony that included some of the most unusual covers of the metal icons' music in recent memory. In addition to those assorted tributes, the band also received a monetary award of one million Swedish Kroner (a little over $130,000), which they have donated to three charities, Billboard reports.
"Many of the Polar Music Prize Laureates over the years have donated their prize money to charity," Marie Ledin, managing director of the Prize, told Billboard. "It's not something we ask of them, but we appreciate their generosity. I know my father, Stig Anderson, would be very happy and proud to know of our Laureates' great charitable donations." ABBA's manager, Anderson founded the Prize in the late 1980s.
Half of Metallica's prize money is going to the Stockholm City Mission, which works with the homeless. The World Childhood Foundation, founded by Sweden's Queen Silvia, is getting 25 percent, with the final quarter being donated to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, the other recipient of this year's Polar Music Prize, which traditionally goes to two Laureates.
