Acclaimed American musician and artist Laurie Anderson has been awarded the 2026 Kyoto Prize. Japan’s highest award for an individual internationally renowned within their field, the award presents its winner with a cash prize of 100 million yen ($897,000 AUD). Anderson will be awarded the Prize in a ceremony on 10 November.

Laurie Anderson. Photo © Wolfgang Tillmans/Nonesuch Records

“Laurie Anderson has demonstrated her interdisciplinary creativity beyond the boundaries of music, visual art, and film through her innovative use of technology, combining ingenuity and wit. She has established a uniquely experimental yet pop-infused form of multimedia performance by integrating her own narrative voice, body, and electronic media.”

Laurie Anderson is an artist, musician, and filmmaker. A pioneer in avant-garde performance and electronic music, she gained international attention with her 1981 Massenet-inspired single O Superman which became an unexpected commercial hit, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

She has released eight studio albums and has invented her own musical instruments including the tape-bow violin, which uses magnetic tape in a violin bow in place of horsehair.

She has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and was the first artist-in-residence at NASA, taking on the position...