GRAMMY-winning metal pioneers Metallica have a huge heart. After receiving the Polar Music Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in Stockholm on June 14, the band promptly announced they'd be donating the prize money to three charities.
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The prize amounts to just over $130,000, and 50 percent of it will go to the Stockholm City Mission, which supports the homeless. The World Childhood Foundation founded by Sweden's Queen Silva and the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, who also received a Polar Music Prize this year, will receive 25 percent each of Metallica's prize money.
"Many of the Polar Music Prize laureates over the years have donated their prize money to charity," managing director of the Polar Music Prize Marie Ledin told Billboard. "It's not something we ask of them, but we appreciate their generosity."
Metallica have been giving back a lot lately. In May, the group participated in their first All Within My Hands Foundation "Day Of Service," volunteering at food banks and encouraging their fans to do the same. The foundation is the band's new charitable branch, "dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger and other critical local services," according to its website.
"Our primary thing for the last year has been, all over where Metallica goes to, to support local food banks," says Ulrich. "We write checks in every city. We just played a 39-day European tour where we wrote checks to the local food banks."
The band returns to the road Sept. 2, kicking off a U.S. tour with a sold-out show in Madison, Wis., before trekikng across the country through March 2019. For a full list of dates and ticket information, visit the band's website.
