Waters and Mason accept Sweden's Polar Music Prize on behalf of Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and Nick Mason were in Stockholm on August 26th to accept the Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI (16) Gustaf. The Associated Press reported that Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt honored Pink Floyd, saying that the band's work was "a monumental contribution ... and captured the mood and spirit of a whole generation in their reflections and attitudes."

Pink Floyd and fellow honoree American soprano Renee Fleming were respectively awarded $157,700 at the ceremony, which was held in the Stockholm Concert Hall. Mason said that he wished that the other half of Pink Floyd -- David Gilmour and Rick Wright -- could have been there to share in the honor. Waters thanked his 96 year-old mother, saying, "If there is any humanity and empathy in my work, which I think there is, I would rather owe it to her."

Billboard reported that at a press conference prior to the ceremony, Waters commented on the fact that Floyd has never won a Grammy and said of the Polar Music Prize, "It's very important to me. We seem to be a bit thin on prizes."

Mason said, "It's not that I feel we need or deserve an award. But it makes you feel like you are a part of history." He added that all four members of Pink Floyd would share the prize money and decide to which charity they will donate the money.

When asked about a future Floyd reunion, Waters admitted, "Personally, I'd love to do some shows with the original band."

Waters says that he actually enjoyed Pink Floyd's 2005 Live 8 reunion as much as the fans: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "Live 8, I really enjoyed it. It was great to have the opportunity to get back on stage with Nick (Mason) and Rick (Wright) and Dave (Gilmour). It went really well. It felt really good. I thought the songs sounded great. And if we get an opportunity to do something like that in the future, I'm up for it."

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by ABBA manager Stig Anderson, and salutes the best in the worlds of pop and classical music. Previous Polar Music Prize winners include, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Isaac Stern, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, B.B. King, Led Zeppelin, and Robert Moog, and Quincy Jones, among others.