Herbie Hancock ‘thrilled, surprised and humbled’ by Polar Music Prize win
The jazz star said he was pleased to be among ‘great people’ in winning the award.
Jazz legend Herbie Hancock has said he is “thrilled, surprised and humbled” after being awarded the Polar Music Prize.
The 84-year-old received the gong, which celebrates the power and importance of music by recognising some of its most important figures, along with British band Queen and Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan.
Speaking about receiving the award, Hancock told the PA news agency: “I’m thrilled, I’m surprised, and I’m humbled by being a recipient of this prize.
“Because the others before me who have received this prize are people I deeply admire and respect. They are amazing contributors to humanity, and to be among them is an extreme honour for me.”
Hancock said he was pleased to be among “great people”, naming the likes of French-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, US saxophonist Wayne Shorter and Police singer Sting, as some of his favourite previous winners.
His award comes after Hancock led a tribute to his “amazing” late friend Quincy Jones at this year’s 67th Grammy Awards, performing Fly Me To The Moon with Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, and Bluesette with Stevie Wonder.
Speaking about the performance, he told PA: “I actually had a great time, I was very happily surprised that people really enjoyed what I did.
“I was trying to put things together and hope I didn’t screw anything up too badly.
“But when I found out that people really liked what I did, and what we all did, I was very happy about that, happily surprised.”
Hancock also reflected on some of the biggest changes he has seen during more than six decades in the industry.
He told PA: “The first thing that popped into my mind was when synthesisers came in, computers came into the music business, then it wasn’t just acoustic instruments.
“But when synthesisers came in, because I had always been a kind of nerdy, techy person, since I was a very young kid.
“I used to take apart clocks because I wanted to find out how is it that the second hand goes around the clock. When I was like three years old, I tried to unscrew it and see how did that work?
“So that was one of the things, but just how music evolved through the generations has been really exciting for me, and trying to keep up with it, and not getting into what I feel is a bad habit of trying to kind of hold on to a status quo and dismiss anything that wasn’t that.
“I don’t want to be that kind of person, and somehow find, do I have a place in here? Is this what can I use from this? What can I learn from this? That’s always been the exciting problem for me to solve.”
Hancock said those wishing to follow in his footsteps should be themselves and “don’t look at it as a way to become famous”.
He continued: “That never turns out well, that’s not where happiness comes from, it doesn’t come from being famous, that’s where a lot of problems emanate from.
“So it’s your attitude about it, one can become famous but it’s not a pursuit, it can be an end result of work that you’ve done.
“It’s work, we always need to work at something, we need to learn that’s what we’re here for.”
The Chicago-born bandleader is best known for albums such as the pioneering jazz-funk fusion record Head Hunters and his work with the Miles Davis Quintet.
He also worked with Davis’s former wife Betty Davis, whom he described as “a force to be reckoned with” but someone he “enjoyed” working with.
The eccentric late funk singer has seen renewed interest in recent times following a documentary about her life called They Say I’m Different (2017) and a series of reissues of her work which followed in 2023.
Hancock will perform three dates at London’s Barbican in July, and described the capital’s audiences as “amazing” because they are “responsive” and “listen, even if I come up with something that’s not what they expected”.
Founded in 1989 by Abba publisher, lyricist and manager Stig ‘Stikkan’ Anderson, the Polar Music Awards are given to individuals, groups or institutions for their work in music.
Previous winners include Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Stooges singer Iggy Pop.
