Polar Music Prize 2014: Chuck Berry and Peter Sellars awarded music’s Nobel Prize

Chuck Berry and theatre director Peter Sellars have been named as 2014 Polar Music Prize laureates.

Chuck Berry and Peter Sellars will be presented with their awards by King Carl XVI of Sweden at a ceremony in Stockholm on August 26.

The million kronor prize ($131,000) was founded 25 years ago by Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, the publisher, lyricist and manager of Abba.

The first Polar Music Prize laureate was Paul McCartney.

The aim of the award is to “break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music”.

In a career spanning seven decades, Chuck Berry has released a string of classic songs such as Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny B Goode.

The award committee said in a statement: “In the course of three minutes he conjures up an image of the everyday life and dreams of a teenager, often with the focus on cars. Chuck Berry, born in 1926, was the first to drive up onto the highway and announce that we are born to run.”

Acclaimed opera, theatre and festival director Peter Sellars is known for his re-interpretations of classic works.

Peter Sellars is working with the English National Opera later this year for the world stage premiere of John Adams’s latest work, The Gospel According to the Other Mary.

He is, said the award organizers, “a living definition of what the Polar Music Prize is all about: highlighting the music and presenting it in a new context”.

Previous Polar Music Prize laureates include Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, BB. King, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.