Features
Veiled Hint Of Floyd Reunion
It may be no more than one of those remarks that are soon blown out of proportion, but during a Polar Music Prize press conference, former Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason said he’d love to do some shows with the original band.
He made the remark after explaining that the decision to play at Live 8 in 2005 was easy because it was such a worthy cause. Floyd’s one-off performance was all the more remarkable because it came after years of internal bickering.
His comments came a day before he and songwriting bass player Roger Waters accepted the prestigious Polar award from King Carl Gustaf XVI at a special ceremony at Stockholm Concert Hall August 26.
As rumours of a Floyd reunion are as popular as rumours about 2006 Polar Prize winners Led Zeppelin getting back together again, it may be only a matter of days before all the U.K. tabloids claim to have the exclusive inside story.
Pink Floyd shared this year’s prize with American classical singer Renée Fleming, generally considered to be one of the world’s leading sopranos.
Mason, Waters and fellow former Floyd guitarist David Gilmour all featured in a pre-Polar special that national television station TV4 posted online a couple of days before the prize-giving.
Apart from interviews with all three, which were subtitled in Swedish, it also showed clips from the band’s early days.
“We seem to be a bit thin on prizes,” Waters told the press conference, explaining that despite international success, the group had never received a Grammy. He didn’t mention anything about a reunion.
Mason said it’s not as if the band feels it needs or deserves an award, but winning a Polar Music Prize “makes you feel like you are a part of history.”
The prize, which was founded and funded in 1992 by the late Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, producer and manager of Abba, traditionally brings different musical genres together.
Its purpose is to honour exceptional and lifetime musical achievements that transcend genres and break down musical boundaries.
The Royal Swedish Academy, which has run the prize since Anderson died in 1997, usually splits the award between modern acts and classical musicians.
The list of contemporary acts to have shared the award in the past include B.B. King (2004), Bob Dylan (2000), Stevie Wonder (’99), Bruce Springsteen (’97), Joni Mitchell (’96), Elton John (’95), and Quincy Jones (’94).
In 1992 Paul McCartney shared the award, which also carries a 1 million Swedish Kronor ($157,000) cash prize, with the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The citation said the award was in recognition of the region’s national music culture.
Winners are chosen by a jury of 18, including working professionals from the Swedish music industry and three members of Stig Anderson’s family.