POP/ROCK - May 19, 1992

Polar Prize: King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on Monday presented the first Polar Music Prize to Paul McCartney and to the three Baltic countries. In ceremonies in Stockholm, McCartney was cited as a “creative and visionary renewer of pop music for more than 30 years.” McCartney said he will donate the money to a hospital and a music school in his home city of Liverpool, England. Lithuania’s President Vytautas Landsbergis, a musicologist, accepted the $172,000 prize for his country. An equal amount goes to Latvia and Estonia. The award is intended to support national music in the three republics and help them establish copyright systems meeting international standards. The award was created by Stikkan Andersson, former manager of the Swedish pop group ABBA, when he sold his record company, Polar Music, and donated $7.24 million to a trust.