Polarpristagaren Sting hyllades i Konserthuset

Wayne Shorter, född 25 augusti 1933 i Newark, New Jersey, är en amerikansk jazzsaxofonist. I slutet av 1950-talet till mitten av 1960-talet medverkade Shorter i Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, med bland andra Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard och Cedar Walton. Han värvades 1964 av Miles Davis till dennes andra "superkvintett", tillsammans med Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter och Tony Williams, i vilken ha spelade fram till 1970. Shorter var en av stilbildarna inom den så kallade modala jazzen, en kompositiorisk/improvisatorisk stil som utgår mer från modus och skalor snarare än diatoniska ackordföljder. Kända kompositioner är exempelvis "JuJu", "Footprints", "Prince of Darkness". Under 1960-talet gav Shorter ut en rad LP-skivor under eget namn, bland annat JuJu och Speak No Evil. Han medverkade också på en mängd andra, av Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis och Freddie Hubbard med flera. På 1970-talet bildade han tillsammans med Joe Zawinul bandet Weather Report med andra medlemmar, till exempel Miroslav Vitous, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Alex Acuña. För närvarande leder han sin egen kvartett med bland andra Brian Blade och John Pattitucci. Den 7 februari 2017 meddelades att Wayne Shorter tilldelats Polarpriset.

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born 2 October 1951), better known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band The Police from 1977 to 1984, before launching a solo career. He has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and worldbeat in his music. As a solo musician and a member of The Police, he has received 16 Grammy Awards (his first in the category of best rock instrumental in 1980, for "Reggatta de Blanc"), three Brit Awards, including Best British Male in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording. In 2003, Sting received a CBE from Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to music, and was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White House in 2014. He was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2017. With The Police, Sting became one of the world's best-selling music artists. Solo and with The Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records. In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters. He was 63rd of VH1's 100 greatest artists of rock, and 80th of Q magazine's 100 greatest musical stars of 20th century. He has collaborated with other musicians, including "Rise & Fall" with Craig David, "All for Love", with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, "You Will Be My Ain True Love" with Alison Krauss, and introduced the North African music genre raï to Western audiences by his international hit "Desert Rose" with Cheb Mami.

Polar Music Prize (Polarpriset) är ett internationellt musikpris instiftat av Stikkan Anderson 1989. Namnet är hämtat från Andersons skivbolag, Polar Music. Priset delas sedan 1992 årligen ut till enskilda personer, grupper eller institutioner, oftast till två mottagare per utdelning.