Sting and Wayne Shorter are the latest to named laureates for the prestigious Polar Music Prize this year, and are set to pick up their awards in Sweden this summer. The news was announced this week from the committee of a prize that Sweden nicknames 'The Nobel Prize of Music'.

StingSting to receive the Polar Music Prize 2017

The chairman of the Polar Music Prize committee, Alfons Karabuda, announced today (February 7th 2017) at Stockholm City Hall that the British rocker and the American jazz saxophonist will be honoured with accolades for their services to music over their long respective careers.

Sting told Billboard'I still maintain a childlike curiosity about music, along with a sense that I constantly need to work at it', . 'So to be recognized in this way is truly meaningful. I am looking forward to coming to Sweden in June for this special evening.'

Sting has won no less than 17 Grammy Awards over the course of his career, both as a solo artist and with the new wave band The Police, and he is currently up for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'The Empty Chair' which featured in the documentary 'Jim: The James Foley Story'. 

Meanwhile, Wayne Shorter is best known for working alongside Art Blakely and Miles Davis as both an instrumentalist and a songwriter. He went on to form his own band, Weather Report, which has released more than 20 albums and won 10 Grammys.

'I'm looking forward to accepting [the prize] in Sweden, a country that has produced some great musicians and composers who have inspired the world', Wayne said. 'It's another great adventure for me, during a life where I've always chosen the trail less traveled because it always takes you to more interesting discoveries.'

More: Sting re-opens the Bataclan in Paris

It was songwriter and ABBA manager Stig Anderson who first set up the Polar Music Prize in 1989, presenting the first ones to Paul McCartney and the Baltic states. Other winners over the years have included Elton John, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Patti Smith, Quincy Jones and Bruce Springsteen. Last year the award went to producer Max Martin and Italy's Cecilia Bartoli. 

Sting and Wayne Shorter will be honoured at a gala in Sweden on June 15th 2017, accepting their awards from King Carl XVI Gustaf.