Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952)[2] is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder ofChic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 100 million singles worldwide.
Rodgers is aSongwriters Hall of Fame inductee and was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame via the Musical Excellence category in 2017. He has received sixGrammy Awards, including theGrammy Lifetime Achievement/Special Merit Award. Known for hischucking guitar style, in 2014Rolling Stone wrote that "the full scope of Nile Rodgers' career is still hard to fathom".[11][12] In 2023,Rolling Stone placed Rodgers 7th on a list of the 250 greatest guitarists of all time, writing: "There's 'influential,' then there's 'massively influential', then there's Nile Rodgers... a true innovator who never slows down, still making history with his guitar."[13]
Rodgers was born on September 19, 1952, inNew York City on theLower East Side ofManhattan, to Beverly Goodman. She gave birth to Rodgers when she was 14. His biological father, Nile Rodgers Sr., was a travellingpercussionist who specialized inAfro-Cuban beats and was rarely present as Rodgers grew up; although influential in his life, Rodgers saw his father only a "handful" of times prior to his death in 1970.[14] In 1959, Goodman married Bobby Glanzrock. Rodgers described Glanzrock in his 2011 autobiography as a "beatnik PhD, whose observations had angles that would makeMiles Davis contemplate his cool."[15]Richard Pryor,Thelonious Monk, andLenny Bruce often visited their home inGreenwich Village.[16] Glanzrock and Goodman were addicted toheroin, and Rodgers began using drugs at 13.[17]
Rodgers met bassistBernard Edwards in 1970 while working as a touring musician for theSesame Street stage show. Together they formed The Big Apple Band and initially worked as back-up musicians for the vocal groupNew York City ("I'm Doin' Fine Now"). New York City's one hit allowed them to tour extensively, opening forThe Jackson 5 on the American leg of their first world tour in 1973.[23][24] The band dissolved after their second album failed to yield a hit.
Rodgers and Edwards subsequently joined forces with drummerTony Thompson to form the Boys, playing gigs up and down the East Coast. Although there was label interest, record companies passed on the band after discovering its members were black, believing that black rock artists would be too hard to promote.[25]
As the Big Apple Band, Rodgers and Edwards worked withAshford & Simpson andLuther Vandross, among others. Since another New York artist,Walter Murphy, had a band called The Big Apple Band, in 1977 Rodgers and Edwards changed the band's name to Chic.[26]
Inspired byRoxy Music, Chic developed a sound that was a fusion of jazz, soul, and funk grooves with melodies and lyrics with a European influence.[27] Between gigs, they recorded the song "Dance, Dance, Dance", with then-bossLuther Vandross on vocals.[28] Originally released byBuddah Records, it was a hit when it was re-released by Atlantic in the summer of 1977. Atlantic picked up an album option with Rodgers and Edwards, who quickly wrote more songs, and Chic's self-titled debut was released in November.[29]
The success of Chic's first singles led Atlantic to offer Rodgers and Edwards the opportunity to produce any act on its roster. They choseSister Sledge, whose 1979 album,We Are Family,[36] hit No. 3 on theBillboard chart, charting well into 1980. The first two singles, "He's the Greatest Dancer" and the title cut "We Are Family" both reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, and No. 6 and No. 2, respectively on the pop chart.[37][38][39] In April 2018, "We Are Family" was selected to be preserved in the Library of Congress.[36]
1980s: Diana Ross, David Bowie, INXS, Madonna, Duran Duran
With Chic no longer occupying most of his time, Rodgers was free to focus on working with other artists.[45] He produced David Bowie's biggest selling album,Let's Dance, which yielded the hit singles "Let's Dance", "China Girl", and "Modern Love". He produced the single "Original Sin" byINXS, and in 1984, he producedMadonna's albumLike a Virgin, which scored four hit singles including its title track, "Material Girl", and "Dress You Up".[46][47] He worked extensively withDuran Duran, remixing their biggest-selling single, "The Reflex", producing "Wild Boys" on their 1984 live album,Arena, and co-producing the albumNotorious.[48]
Rodgers formed the short-lived experimental band Outloud in 1987, withDavid Letterman's guitarist, composer, and vocalistFelicia Collins and French session musician, producer, composer, and keyboardistPhilippe Saisse; the trio released a single album,Out Loud, onWarner Bros. Records.[60]
1990s: Production, reformed Chic and death of Edwards, Sumthing Else
Rodgers and Edwards reformed Chic in 1992 and recorded new material for the albumChic-Ism.[67] In 1996, they released a Japan-only album consisting of old Chic material rerecorded with guest vocalists,Chic Freak and More Treats. Edwards and Rodgers performed withSister Sledge,Steve Winwood, andSlash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan.[68]
Edwards died following a concert on April 17, 1996. Rodgers discovered his body. He later said that he "cried like a baby and suffered intensely but eventually realised the best tribute to him would be to carry on and be the best I could be."[69][70] A year later, Rodgers returned to Japan to pay homage to Edwards, and in 1999, Rodgers releasedLive at the Budokan, a live recording of Edwards' final performance. The album was not overdubbed or changed in order to keep the recording pure.[71][72]
In 1998, Rodgers founded Sumthing Else Music Works record label andSumthing Distribution, an independent music label distributor. Sumthing focused on distributing video game soundtracks, and released the world's first 5.1 surround DVD game-soundtrack album.[77] Its titles include theHalo,Resident Evil,Gears of War andBorderlands series.[81]
2000s: Film and video game soundtracks, We Are Family Foundation
In 2002, Rodgers returned to work again with the original five members of Duran Duran when he co-producedAstronaut.[85] The album rose to No. 3 in the UK.[86]
Following theSeptember 11 attacks, Rodgers brought together more than 200 musicians and celebrities to record "We Are Family". It was recorded in New York at Avatar Studios (previously The Power Station, where the original recording of "We Are Family" took place in 1978), and inLos Angeles at theRecord Plant. The accompanying music video was directed bySpike Lee. An 80-minute documentary,The Making and Meaning of We Are Family, directed byDanny Schechter,[78] premiered at theSundance Film Festival in 2002. In a collaboration betweenDisney,Nickelodeon andPBS, more than 100 children's television characters participated in a "We Are Family" children's music video, and on March 11, 2002, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and PBS aired the video to promote tolerance and diversity on the 6-month anniversary of 9/11.[87] In July 2002, Rodgers co-founded theWe Are Family Foundation with hislife partner, Nancy Hunt.[88] A non-profit organization that promotes "cultural diversity while nurturing and mentoring the vision, talents, and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world", it is dedicated to the vision of a global family.[89]
2010s: Autobiography, Daft Punk, Songwriters Hall of Fame,It's About Time
In 2010,Rhino Records released a four-CDbox set,Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization, Volume 1: Savoir Faire, which for the first time collected tracks from all of the acts produced by The Chic Organization up to their original break-up in 1983. Rodgers provided liner notes for the set, which was also reissued in 2013.
Rodgers' critically acclaimed autobiography,Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny was published bySpiegel & Grau, aRandom House imprint, in late 2011.[90] It was named one of the top 10 of the 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time byRolling Stone.[91]
In February 2012, Rodgers announced that he was collaborating with electronic bandDaft Punk for their latest album, "teasing out their R&B influences".[92] The record,Random Access Memories was released in 2013. Rodgers co-wrote and played guitar on three tracks: "Give Life Back to Music", "Lose Yourself to Dance", and "Get Lucky". In April, "Get Lucky" entered theUK Singles Chart at No. 3, only 24 hours after its release, and two weeks later rose to No. 1. In an interview withOfficial Charts Company, Rodgers said, "I've had big records and Number 1s; I have had records that were Number 1 in the United States but nowhere else ... I've had records which have done well [in the UK], but not in the States. But to have this ubiquitous record, that is a hit everywhere ... It's amazing to me! I'm out on the road and I can hear it wherever I go. I'm flabbergasted!" "Get Lucky" became one of the UK's biggest-selling singles of all time.[93]
Rhino Records releasedNile Rodgers Presents The Chic OrganizationUp All Night (The Greatest Hits), a compilation album featuring songs written, played or produced by Rodgers and Bernard Edwards for Chic and various artists, including Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Carly Simon, Debbie Harry, Johnny Mathis, Sheila & B. Devotion and Norma Jean Wright.Up All Night reached No. 2 on the UK Compilation Album Chart for the week ending July 13, 2013. In October 2013, Rhino releasedNile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization Up All Night (The Greatest Hits Disco Edition), which included a medley taken from Chic ft. Nile Rodgers' live performance at the 2013Glastonbury Festival.[94]
Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were nominated to theSongwriters Hall of Fame in October 2013.[95] In January 2014, Rodgers performed"Get Lucky" withDaft Punk on the Grammy Awards, along withPharrell Williams andStevie Wonder, with a medley including elements of Chic's "Le Freak" and Wonder's "Another Star". Rodgers won three Grammy Awards for his work with Daft Punk onRandom Access Memories, including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Record of the Year and Album of the Year.[96] In March,Rolling Stone named Rodgers one of the 50 Most Important People in EDM, stating, "The full scope of Nile Rodgers' career is still hard to fathom, and it's not just ongoing, it's in overdrive."[97] In December, NARAS announced that "Le Freak" would be inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame.[98]
Rodgers' solo single "Do What You Wanna Do (IMS Anthem)" was released on August 10, 2014[99] to benefit the We Are Family Foundation. A year later, in March 2015, Rodgers releasedChic's first single in more than 23 years, "I'll Be There", with a live streamed concert from The Roundhouse in London.[100] The song was produced using original Chic outtake tapes from the 70s, withBernard Edwards,Tony Thompson, and vocalists Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin.[101] The song went to No. 1 onBillboard's Dance Music Chart on June 20, 2015.[102] In August, Rodgers launched FOLD Festival (FreakOut! Let's Dance), a multi-day event with a diverse line-up of artists includingBeck,Duran Duran,Chaka Khan,Keith Urban,Janelle Monáe,Ginger Minj,Chic and others.[103]
Rodgers collaborated withLady Gaga to remake Chic's hit, "I Want Your Love" forTom Ford's Spring/Summer 2016 collection video in lieu of a fashion show.[104]
Rodgers andBernard Edwards were inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame on June 9, 2016.[105] In 2017, after 11 nominations for Chic, Rodgers was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame with an award for Musical Excellence. "It's sort of bittersweet," says Rodgers. "I'm quite flattered that they believed that I was worthy, but my band Chic didn't win. They plucked me out of the band and said, 'You're better than Chic.' That's wacky to me ... I am flattered and I think it's cool, but I feel like somebody put me in the lifeboat and told my family they can't get in."[106]
On the evening of 25 June 2017, Rodgers and Chic returned to theGlastonbury Festival, as headliners on the Pyramid Stage, for an audience of close to 100,000.[107] In September of the same year, a version of George Michael's song "Fantasy" was released, credited to "George Michael featuring Nile Rodgers." The track, released as a B-side by Michael's label in 1990, was reworked by Rodgers and featured him prominently on guitar. It was Michael's only posthumous release.[108]
In June 2018, "Till the World Falls", the first single from Nile Rodgers & Chic's first album since 1992,It's About Time, was released. The song featuredMura Masa,Cosha andVic Mensa.[109] The album was released in September 2018, and hit the Top 10 in the UK. It was the first Chic record to hit the Top 10 in 25 years.[110] Two singles from the album were subsequently released: "Sober" featuringCraig David andStefflon Don, and "Do You Wanna Party" featuringLunchMoney Lewis. In December 2018, Nile Rodgers & Chic began their first UK arena tour.[111] They were nominated for aBrit Award in the "Best International Group Category", in January 2019.[112]
In July 2018, Rodgers co-foundedHipgnosis Songs Fund withMerck Mercuriadis. An IP investment and song management company, Hipgnosis Songs Fund went public later that year.[113]
In November 2018, to mark the 40th anniversary of "Le Freak", Rhino/Atlantic releasedThe Chic Organisation 1977-79, a 6-CD box set containing Chic's first three albums, Sister Sledge'sWe Are Family and a collection of rarities, including a facsimile of Chic's first single – a 12″ promo for "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" released by Buddah Records in 1977.[114][115]
In January 2019, Rodgers offered 600 free tickets to furloughed US Federal workers during the US Government Shutdown to the Nile Rodgers & Chic concert at the MGM National Harbor in Washington, DC.[116]He played at Cardiff Castle on July 12, 2019, and on February 17, 2020, he participated in Eric Clapton's tribute concert for Ginger Baker.[citation needed]
On November 13, 2020, Rodgers was featured on "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" as part of the BBC Radio 2's Allstars'Children in Need charity single.[120] The single debuted at number 7 on the Official UK Singles Chart[121] and number 1 on both the Official UK Singles Sales Chart and the Official UK Singles Download Chart.[122]
In the summer of 2021, Rodgers, with Constellation Immersive, launched DiscOasis, an ongoing 1970s-themed disco and roller skating pop-up party at theSouth Coast Botanic Garden inRancho Palos Verdes. Developed in part to provide an outside experience during theCOVID-19 pandemic, DJs select music from crates of records that Rodgers hand picked from his personal collection.[125]
In July 2022, Hipgnosis Songs Fund was valued at US $2.69 billion.[126]
An asteroid approximately 300 million miles away from Earth was named nilerodgers (191911) in honor of Rodgers' 70th birthday in 2022.[127] Rodgers donated $1 million to the We Are Family Foundation, the organization he co-founded, to mark both his birthday and the foundation's 20th anniversary.[128]
In January 2024, theWorld Economic Forum announced that Rodgers would receive its 2024 Crystal Award. Presented during the opening session of the event, the announcement stated that Rodgers would be honored for his "efforts to make the world a more peaceful, equal and inclusive place through his music, his commitment to fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice, and by championing innovative youth voices."[137] In March, he was namedPolar Music Prize Laureate, together withEsa-Pekka Salonen.[138] He was among many star guitarists to contribute to a new version ofMark Knopfler's "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero" in aid of theTeenage Cancer Trust,[139] produced the song "Electric Energy" (withAriana DeBose andBoy George) forMaetthew Vaughn's filmArgylle,[140] and worked withAlfie Templeman on his second studio album,Radiosoul, featuring on the track "Just A Dance".[141][142] He provided guitar on Norwegian DJKygo'sself-titled fifth studio album, on the track "For Life", also featuring English singerZak Abel. He also provided additional guitar on Britishpop rock bandColdplay's song "Good Feelings", which features vocals from Nigerian singerAyra Starr. The song was included on the band's tenth studio albumMoon Music.
Rodgers again worked with Beyonce on her 2024 album,Cowboy Carter. He was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance as a writer of "Levii's Jeans" (featuring Post Malone).[143] Rodgers featured on "Talk To Me", withDamiano David andTyla, which was released in September 2025.[144]
In 1982, Rodgers and Edwards produced the soundtrack for the movieSoup for One. As Chic, they wrote and performed three songs, including the film's title track. Edwards and Rodgers also wrote and producedCarly Simon's "Why", a top 10 hit in the UK that helped resurrect Simon's career. The soundtrack, which also featured Sister Sledge, Debbie Harry, andTeddy Pendergrass, was a bigger hit than the film.[145][146][147]
Rodgers became increasingly in-demand as a producer and composer for film and television following the success of theSoup for One soundtrack. In 1984, he producedAl Jarreau's theme for the television seriesMoonlighting; he wrote, produced and scored the soundtrack forAlphabet City, and in 1986 and worked with Laurie Anderson on her concert film,Home of the Brave.[148] In 1988, in addition to producing the soundtrack forEarth Girls Are Easy, he composed the orchestral score for Eddie Murphy'sComing to America. He also served as the film's music supervisor, and wrote and produced its title track, a hit forThe System,[145] and wrote the jingle for the Soul Glo commercial, "the most iconic fake ad in cinematic history."[149][150]
In 1999, he executive produced, scored, music-supervised and appeared inPublic Enemy, a documentary about the Black Panthers. In a review of the soundtrack, critic Maria Blandford wrote: "The disc realistically supports the conflicting and controversial nature of this historical period, and opens the arena for present-day discussion and evaluation...this recording is an examination of the American conscience."[151]
Since his 1978 debut with Chic onAmerican Bandstand, Rodgers has performed on more than 150 television programs.[160] He has been the subject of documentaries including theBBC'sNile Rodgers: The Hitmaker,[161][162][163]Front and Center: Songwriters Hall of Fame: Nile Rodgers on PBS, Arte France'sNile Rodgers: Secrets of a Hitmaker,[164] and the short filmComposing America: The Musical Talents of Nile Rodgers. The BBC also broadcastNile Rodgers: How To Make It in the Music Business, a three-hour, three part special.[165] In 2018,Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Nile Rodgers premiered onNetflix.[166]
Rodgers has appeared in documentaries about David Bowie, Diana Ross, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Rick James, George Michael, Duran Duran, Daft Punk, Public Enemy, Madonna, Avicii, Studio 54, the Seventies, the Eighties, the Nineties, recorded music, girl groups, the disco era, disco, house music, funk, and soul music.[167][better source needed] He was featured in the 2023 BBC documentary aboutLittle Richard,Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock’n’Roll.[168]
Rodgers most frequently plays Fender Stratocasters, as well as Gibson Les Pauls and archtop guitars such as the Gibson ES-300 and D'Angelico New Yorker. He auctioned more than 100 guitars and bass guitars from his personal collection to benefit We Are Family Foundation in December 2021.[169]
Rodgers plays a 1960 FenderStratocaster with a 1959 neck, nicknamedThe Hitmaker, which he acquired as a trade-in at a shop inMiami Beach, Florida. Exceptionally light, it has a maple fingerboard and a worn white finish. Rodgers claims it has a unique sound. After Rodgers purchased the guitar, Edwards taught him how to play it in achop chord style, which he called "chucking". In his autobiography, Rodgers wrote:[170] "He fingered the chords with his left hand, and his right hand would continuously play sixteen notes to the bar while accenting the main parts of the rhythm ... One lesson was all I needed. For the next few nights straight, while my roommate pursued all manner of trysts, I was having a love affair in the bathroom with my new ax. In just a few days, I'd emerge as a chucking funk guitarist who knew more jazz chord inversions than most of my R&B counterparts."
The Fender Custom Shop introduced a limited edition Nile Rodgers Hitmaker Stratocaster, a recreation of Rodgers' guitar, in January 2014.[171]
In the early 1990s, Rodgers woke up in the hospital to learn that his heart had stopped eight times and he was alive due only to the actions of the doctor who was filling out his death certificate. He stopped using drugs and alcohol in 1994 after a friend showed him a tape of a performance during which he was inebriated.[172]
Rodgers was diagnosed with an aggressive form ofprostate cancer in October 2010. He documented his illness on a blog calledWalking on Planet C.[173] He was given the all-clear in 2013. In 2017, a growth on his right kidney was diagnosed as two different cancers within one mass. The mass was surgically removed in November 2017. He said he expected a 100% recovery.[174] At his performance at the Hollywood Bowl, on July 4, 2019, Rodgers announced that he was "100% cancer-free".
^Smythe, David (August 2, 2019), "The Last Nile" Evening Standard, London, page 28.
^Walsh, Michael (August 15, 1994); "Tales of cops and bombers a real earful" [Final Edition],The Province, Vancouver, B.C. p. B4.
^Vargas, J. A. (2004, Dec 09). "Musicians are making tracks to video games; popularity of interactive play has artists battling to be heard, [FINAL edition]. The Washington Post
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