Poet, singer and songwriter Patti Smith will be awarded Sweden's prestigious Polar Music Prize by King Carl XVI Gustaf in a ceremony in Stockholm later this year.

The prize, founded in 1989 by the late Stig Anderson (manager of Abba), is Sweden’s highest music honour, with last year’s winners including iconic Icelandic singer Björk. Smith, who is sometimes referred to as the ‘Godmother of Punk’ has been lauded with praise by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music for her trailblazing work which has fused poetry and rock.

music-news.com reports that a spokesperson for the prize announced: 'By devoting her life to art in all its forms, Patti Smith has demonstrated how much rock'n'roll there is in poetry and how much poetry there is in rock'n'roll. Patti Smith is a Rimbaud with Marshall amps. She has transformed the way an entire generation looks, thinks and dreams. With her inimitable soul of an artist, Patti Smith proves over and over again that people have the power'.

Previous winners of the prize include Paul McCartney, Elton John, Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Pink Floyd, Sonny Rollins, B.B. King and Bob Dylan.