Jazz piano legend Herbie Hancock has done it all. He pioneered groundbreaking new jazz sounds. He composed indelible standards like Watermelon Man and Cantaloupe Island. He paved the way for jazz, R&B, funk and hip hop artists who followed. All of that, plus 14 GRAMMY® Awards. A Lifetime Achievement Award. NEA Jazz Master, Academy Award, Kennedy Center Honors. And, in 2025, the prestigious Polar Music Prize — known as the “Nobel Prize of Music.” When you’ve accomplished so much, there’s nothing else to do but play music — and have a ball!

“Herbie Hancock is a jazz scientist … always focused on musical development and finding new ways of moving forward.”

–2025 Polar Music Prize committee