Pink Floyd, Rene Fleming receive Sweden's 2008 Polar Prize

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the 2008 Polar Music Prize to American soprano Rene Fleming and Pink Floyd band members Nick Mason and Roger Waters in Stockholmon Tuesdayfor their contributions to popular music and opera.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said at the ceremony that the British rock band had made "a monumental contribution and captured the mood and spirit of a whole generation in their reflections and attitudes."

Fleming was praised for her "sublime, unparalleled voice and unique stylistic versatility" by Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, who read the award citation.

The audience gave the prize winners a standing ovation when they arrived to receive the awards, each worth about $164,000. The ceremony was held in the Stockholm Concert Hall.

Fleming thanked organizers for drawing attention to the importance of culture in everyday life and paid tribute to Swedish opera singers.

A two-time Grammy winner, Fleming, 49, has performed on international stages since her debut more than 20 years ago.

Pink Floyd, founded in the early 1960s, reached critical acclaim and popularity with albums such as Ummagumma, The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.

Mason, 63, said the band was honoured to receive the award and that fellow band members David Gilmour and Richard Wright were sorry they couldn't attend.

Waters, 65, paid tribute to his 96-year-old mother. "If there is any humanity and empathy in my work, which I think there is, I would rather owe it to her," he said.

Swedish artists performed the band's songs at the ceremony, ending with a singalong to the hit Another Brick in the Wall.

Reinfeldt recalled playing the song which has the lyric, "We don't need no education" on his school's loudspeakers when he was 14.

The Polar Music Prize is Sweden's biggest music prize and is usually split between pop artists and classical musicians. It was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA.

Past winners include Paul McCartney, Isaac Stern, Bruce Springsteen, Pierre Boulez and Quincy Jones.

The 2007 award went to jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins and composer Steve Reich.