To BBC, Hancock, 84, expresses joy over getting to take a place alongside the previous prize winners.
It's an enormous, fantastic list of people I admire, he says.
During his upbringing, Hancock was inspired equally by Mozart as by the Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. He himself chose electric piano and synthesizers. Among his hit songs are "Watermelon man" and "Cantaloupe Island", and during his career, he has worked closely with two other Polar Prize winners, Joni Mitchell and Wayne Shorter.
Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock were both part of Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet.
I was scared when I played with Miles, says Herbie Hancock to BBC.
It was frightening, I always want to do my best, because I admired him so much. He was such a big part of my own development as a musician.
At this year's Grammy gala, Herbie Hancock and Cynthia Erivo performed "Fly me to the moon" to pay tribute to yet another Polar Prize winner: Quincy Jones, who passed away in November.
Correction: In an earlier version, Oscar Peterson had the wrong title.
Born: 1940.
Background: American jazz musician, band leader, and composer. The Polar Prize jury highlights his album "Head hunters" as well as the MTV hit "Rockit" as examples of how he has influenced R&B, funk, and hip-hop.
His most famous hit songs are "Cantaloupe Island", "Watermelon man", "Maiden voyage", and "Chameleon".
