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'Champions' Queen win 2025 Polar Music Prize

Herbie Hancock performs on the Pyramid stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in Britain, June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
Herbie Hancock performs on the Pyramid stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in Britain, June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
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'Champions' Queen win 2025 Polar Music Prize

Herbie Hancock performs on the Pyramid stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in Britain, June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
Herbie Hancock performs on the Pyramid stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in Britain, June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo

British rock band Queen, American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan were awarded the 2025 Polar Music Prize on Tuesday.

The Polar Prize hailed Queen for their "distinctive and instantly recognizable sound that no one else can emulate".

"Queen were not exaggerating when they sang 'We are the Champions'," it said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Queen have sold more than 300 million albums featuring songs such as "We Will Rock You", "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Founded in 1970, the band featured flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass player John Deacon. They played stadiums across the world - including a memorable performance at the Live Aid concert in 1985 - before Mercury's death in 1991.

They relaunched in 2004 with a succession of new singers.

Queen share the prize with American jazz pianist Herbie Hanckock, a collaborator of Miles Davies among others as well as a solo star in his own right, and Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan.

Founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, publisher and manager of the Swedish band ABBA, previous winners include Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Sting, Elton John and Metallica.

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Stars Convene for AmfAR Gala to Raise Millions for AIDS Research

US singer Bebe Rexha arrives to attend the annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Cannes Gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, on the sidelines of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, on May 25, 2023. (AFP)
US singer Bebe Rexha arrives to attend the annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Cannes Gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, on the sidelines of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, on May 25, 2023. (AFP)
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Stars Convene for AmfAR Gala to Raise Millions for AIDS Research

US singer Bebe Rexha arrives to attend the annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Cannes Gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, on the sidelines of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, on May 25, 2023. (AFP)
US singer Bebe Rexha arrives to attend the annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Cannes Gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, on the sidelines of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, on May 25, 2023. (AFP)

Artwork by Adrien Brody and James Franco and a chance to sit courtside at a Knicks game with director Spike Lee were among the starry offerings at the annual amfAR Gala to raise money for AIDS research.

Held at the famous Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on Thursday, the evening attracted scores of celebrities in the area for the Cannes Film Festival. Guests included Brody, Lee, Colman Domingo, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, and Heidi Klum, The Associated Press said.

This year’s top items for sale included a Dodge Charger that featured in “Fast X,” sold off by Rodriguez, raising 475,000 euros ($536,843). There were also some Chopard pear-shaped, yellow-diamond earrings that reached 400,000 ($452,005) euros in the bidding.

During the meal guests were also entertained with musical performances from Ciara, who opened the night, Adam Lambert and headlining the dinner with Duran Duran. Guest shimmied from their tables to the front of the room to stand in front of the stage and sing along to hits like “Notorious” and “View to a Kill” (which wouldn't be the only James Bond reference of the night).

The sale included artwork from Brody — sold for 375,000 euros ($423,755) with lunch with the star thrown in — and Franco — (sold for 325,000 euros ($367,254) also with a lunch offered with the winning bid. Another highlight was a May 2025 George Condo painting that raised 1.15 million euros ($1.26 million).

Lee came to the stage and offered a surprise lot, a walk-on part in his next movie. Part of the way through the bidding he added tickets to sit next to him courtside at a New York Nicks game next season, driving the price up to 400,000 euros ($452,005).

The fashion show is a regular feature of the auction curated by Carine Roitfeld, this year was Bond-inspired and saw 27 models turn the middle of the dinning room into a catwalk as they paraded through the room waving at guests they recognized and posing for photos on route. The collection made 450,000 euros ($508,505) for the charity, auctioned off as one complete lot.

The Foundation for AIDS Research, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $950 million (841 million euros) in support of its programs and has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams worldwide.