Mary McCartney/MPL Communications
The Wolf Foundation, the nonprofit organization that presents the awards, chose the former Beatles star for his contributions to music as “one of the greatest songwriters of all time.”
McCartney will split the $100,000 prize with Hungarian conductor Adam Fischer, whose resume includes the Vienna State Opera, the Dusseldorf Symphony and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, among many others; Fischer is also a noted political activist.
McCartney’s been invited to receive his Wolf Prize at a special ceremony held in late May at the Knesset — Israel’s legislative headquarters in Jerusalem — that will be hosted by the country’s president, Reuven Rivlin. It’s not known if he will attend the event.
The rock legend’s only visit to Israel took place in September 2008, when he played the “Friendship First” concert in Tel Aviv.
The Wolf Prize has been given out annually since 1978 to laureates in the fields of agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, physics and the arts. McCartney is the first pop musician to be picked for the honor.
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