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Nile Rodgers

Encyclopedia : N : NI : NIL : Nile Rodgers

 

Nile Gregory Rodgers (born September 19, 1952, in New York) is a prolific and influential musician, composer, arranger, guitarist and music producer, and co-founding member of the seminal multi-platinum hit R&B band CHIC, with influential bassist Bernard Edwards.

Contents

Biography

Rodgers began his career as a session guitarist in New York, playing with the Sesame Street band in his teens, and then working in the house band at Harlem's renowned Apollo Theater, backing artists like Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Nancy Wilson, and Parliament Funkadelic.

He met bassist Bernard Edwards in 1970. They formed a rock band called The Boys (later the Big Apple Band) and played numerous gigs around New York City, but despite interest in their demos, they could not get a record contract when the music companies discovered they were black; the discrimination of the day said black artists couldn't play "rock".

These experiences, in addition to activist tenor of the times, led to Rodgers' active involvement in the Black Panther Party in New York. The 1999 documentary film Public Enemy contains history and interviews with Rodgers about these times.

Not the type to give up on their musical dreams, in 1977 Rodgers and Edwards joined forces with drummer Tony Thompson to form the funk/R&B band CHIC ((NB: There is a degree of controversy over Chic being refered to as "Disco"), and went on to score numerous top ten hits and helped propel disco to new levels of popularity. Their songs "Everybody Dance", "Le Freak" and "Good Times" remain among the most sampled songs of the late 70s, early 80s R&B era. Good Times signals the start of the take-off of hip hop music as its sample immensely contributed to the success of SugarHill Gang's Rapper's Delight, first rap hit ever. Chic dissolved in 1983.

As Chic's tight sound and yet rich composition became increasingly popular and sought-after, Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers began doing record production, sometimes together, sometimes apart. Rodgers and Bernard Edwards produced, wrote, and performed with the band Sister Sledge. In 1980 they produced for Diana Ross, yielding the smash hits "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out". (it's today's ross best sales album) In 1981, Deborah Harry worked with Rodgers on the unpopular album Koo Koo. In 1983 they produced David Bowie's album Let's Dance (to date Bowie's best sales album) with several hit singles, and in 1985 produced Madonna's blockbuster album Like a Virgin (possibly to date Madonna's best sales album (To be double-checked), it was certainly at the time. Rodgers developed Madonna's career very significantly).

Duran Duran worked extensively with Rodgers after he produced the hit single "The Reflex" in 1984 and followed up with "The Wild Boys" for inclusion on their 1984 live album Arena. He worked with members John Taylor and Andy Taylor on their side project Power Station in 1985, which produced two hit singles. In 1986, he produced the entirety of Duran Duran's funky Notorious album, which yielded a #2 title track hit. During a live set, Simon Le Bon introduced Nile Rodgers before Skin Trade, saying "Well, this band went through a difficult time [during Notorious]. The band might not have made it if it weren't for this gentleman..." He contributed to numerous other projects and appearances with members of the band throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and in 2002-2003 helped to produce Astronaut, the new album by the original five members of the band.

Let alone unofficially, NIle Rodgers officially produced, or was credited by, or played with, (sometimes all at the same time) and influenced significantly so many major artists and genres that it is difficult to keep an up-to date record. It ranges from Soul with Joss Stone to pop with Britney Spears, to Dance with the shapeshifters, and even to Rock with guitar heroes like Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Clapton. His legacy to the music art and business is of utmost significance, and while this is acknowledged by the industry and the artists, Rodgers remains an unknown to the mainstream public who, however, know about the Chic name, which no individual was fronting. This band, however crucial and influential it remains to the music (while it is difficult to keep counts, it is likely that chic has been as much sampled as James Brown, or if not comes close second) Chic only describes partially the multi-faceted talent of Rodgers.

He formed the short-lived experimental band Outloud in 1987 with acclaimed French session musician /producer/Keyboardist Philippe Saisse; they released a single self-titled album. Saisse has often played with Rodgers during in the Chic tours

After a 1992 birthday party where Rodgers, Edwards, Paul Shaffer and Anton Fig played old Chic hits to rapturous response, Rodgers and Edwards organized the reunion of the old band. They recorded new material and played live all over the world, to great audience and greater critical acclaim.

In 1996 Rodgers was honored as the "Top Producer In the World" in Billboard Magazine, and was named a JT Super Producer. That year he performed with Bernard Edwards, Sister Sledge, Steve Winwood, Simon Le Bon and Slash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan which provided a career retrospective. Unfortunately his longtime musical partner and close friend Bernard Edwards died of pneumonia during the trip, a blow that Rodgers took very hard.

In 1998, Rodgers founded Sumthing Distribution, the largest African-American owned independent music label distribution company in America. Sumthing currently focuses on the distribution in a fast-growing new genre: video game soundtracks.

The September 11, 2001 attacks prompted Rodgers to found the "We Are Family Project". To begin, he organized a re-recording of the Sister Sledge song "We Are Family" by over 200 celebrities, and another recording involving over 100 beloved children's characters, each with accompanying videos and documentaries. He has prompted the United States Congress to create a "National We Are Family Day" to be celebrated on March 11 each year [link]. In July of 2002, he officially created the We Are Family Foundation to promote tolerance and multiculturalism and to support victims of intolerance.

Rodgers has received a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Heroes Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. On September 19, 2005 Nile was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony in New York when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements as a producer, along with former fellow band mate Bernard Edwards.

In Winter of 2005, Rodgers has open a state-of-the-art recording studio at Amanyara, the first Aman Resort in the Caribbean, on the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Selected discography

Chic

Solo

Official Production (partial)

Soundtracks

Biographical reference work

External links

 

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