Patti Smith - Because The Night

Today something happen here in Stockholm...

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by the late Stig ”Stikkan” Anderson, a true legend in the history of Swedish popular music. Stig Anderson was the publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA, and he played a key role in their enormous success. The name of the prize stems from Anderson’s legendary record label, Polar Music.





The Polar Music Prize is an international music prize which is awarded to individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music.

The Polar Music Prize awards two Laureates in order to celebrate music in all its various forms and to emphasize the original intention of the Polar Music Prize: To break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music.

The Laureates of the Polar Music Prize 2011 are PATTI SMITH & KRONOS QUARTET.

Patti Smith


Kronos Quartet



Patti Smith Citation:
The Polar Music Prize 2011 is being awarded to American poet and musician Patti Smith. By devoting her life to art in all its forms, Patti Smith has demonstrated how much rock’n'roll there is in poetry and how much poetry there is in rock’n'roll. Patti Smith is a Rimbaud with Marshall amps. She has transformed the way an entire generation looks, thinks and dreams. With her inimitable soul of an artist, Patti Smith proves over and over again that people have the power.



The Laureates will receive the prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall to be followed by a celebratory banquet at Grand Hôtel on Tuesday 30th of August. The ceremony will be broadcast live on national television (TV4). Later in the evening, a summary of the ceremony and the banquet will be broadcast. The event attracts international media, members of the international music business, celebrities, artists, musicians, government ministers, politicians and leading members of society and industry.

Each recipient receives a total amount of one million SEK.
Thats something huh ?!

There are many that have received this price and today, the Polar Music Prize has become one of the most prestigious music prizes in the world. The list of Laureates speaks for itself:

Sir Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie, Witold Lutoslawski, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Quincy Jones, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Pierre Boulez, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Ericson, Ray Charles, Ravi Shankar, Iannis Xenakis, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Isaac Stern, Burt Bacharach, Robert Moog, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sofia Gubaidulina, Miriam Makeba, Keith Jarrett, B.B. King, György Ligeti, Gilberto Gil, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Valery Gergiev, Led Zeppelin, Sonny Rollins, Steve Reich, Renée Fleming, Pink Floyd, Maestro Abreu & El Sistema, Peter Gabriel, Ennio Morricone and Björk have all been bestowed with the Prize since its inception in 1992.

Smith is currently working on a crime novel set in London. "I've been working on a detective story that starts at the St Giles in the Fields church in London for the last two years," she told NME adding that she "loved detective stories" having been a fan of Sherlock Holmes and US crime author Mickey Spillane as a girl. Part of the book will be set in Gothenburg, Sweden



Now to the tune I choosed for today, Smith's most widely known song is "Because the Night", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen from 1978. Its a cool one!

So Folks, Here are 2 video´s of Patti Smith!

Peace, Thetania



Here is a bonus from my hometown, Stockholm from 1976.


Wanna know more ? Please Click here to come to her website!

Listen to ”Patti Smith - Because The Night" on Spotify here!

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