1970s: Formation of Chic, "Le Freak", Sister Sledge Rodgers met bassist
Bernard Edwards in 1970 while working as a touring musician for the
Sesame Street stage show. Together they formed The Big Apple Band and initially worked as back-up musicians for the vocal group
New York City ("
I'm Doin' Fine Now"). New York City's one hit allowed them to tour extensively, opening for
The Jackson 5 on the American leg of their first world tour in 1973. The band dissolved after their second album failed to yield a hit. Rodgers and Edwards subsequently joined forces with drummer
Tony 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. As the Big Apple Band, Rodgers and Edwards worked with
Ashford & Simpson and
Luther 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. Inspired by
Roxy Music, Chic developed a sound that was a fusion of jazz, soul, and funk grooves with melodies and lyrics with a European influence. Between gigs, they recorded the song "Dance, Dance, Dance", with then-boss
Luther Vandross on vocals. Originally released by
Buddah 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. The band scored numerous top ten hits, including "
Le Freak", "
I Want Your Love", "
Everybody Dance", "
Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)", "
My Forbidden Lover", and "
Good Times" becoming club/pop/R&B standards. "Le Freak" was
Atlantic Records' only triple platinum selling single at the time, and "Good Times" shot to No. 1 in August 1979 despite that year's "
Disco Sucks" campaign. The success of Chic's first singles led Atlantic to offer Rodgers and Edwards the opportunity to produce any act on its roster. They chose
Sister Sledge, whose 1979 album,
We Are Family, hit No. 3 on the
Billboard 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. In April 2018, "We Are Family" was selected to be preserved in the Library of Congress. while Rodgers' drug use accelerated. They completed one of their last projects together in 1980, writing and producing the album
Diana for
Diana Ross, which yielded the hits "
Upside Down" and "
I'm Coming Out". During the same time period, Chic's song "
Good Times" was sampled on
the Sugarhill Gang's "
Rapper's Delight", the first multiple-platinum hip hop single. The song continued to influence the sounds of others, including
Queen's 1980 No. 1 hit "
Another One Bites the Dust", and
Blondie, who had a No. 1 hit with "
Rapture". With Chic no longer occupying most of his time, Rodgers was free to focus on working with other artists. 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" by
INXS, and in 1984, he produced
Madonna's album
Like a Virgin, which scored four hit singles including its title track, "
Material Girl", and "Dress You Up". He worked extensively with
Duran Duran, remixing their biggest-selling single, "The Reflex", producing "Wild Boys" on their 1984 live album,
Arena, and co-producing the album
Notorious. In 1985, Rodgers produced albums for
Sheena Easton,
Jeff Beck,
Thompson Twins,
Mick Jagger, and others, He was named the No. 1 Singles Producer in the World by
Billboard at the end of the year. At the end of the decade, he produced albums for
Grace Jones,
Al Jarreau (
L is for Lover),
Earth Wind and Fire's vocalist
Philip Bailey, and performed on "
Higher Love" with
Steve Winwood, as well as on records for
Cyndi Lauper, and others. In 1989, he co-produced the B-52's multi-platinum album
Cosmic Thing; it reached No. 4 on the
Billboard 200 album chart, and yielded the singles "Love Shack", and "Roam". He produced ''
Workin' Overtime'',
Diana Ross' return to
Motown, and the soundtracks for
Alphabet City,
Gremlins,
White Nights, and
The Fly. He later composed an orchestral soundtrack, his first, for the film
Coming to America. Rodgers formed the short-lived experimental band Outloud in 1987, with
David Letterman's guitarist, composer, and vocalist
Felicia Collins and French session musician, producer, composer, and keyboardist
Philippe Saisse; the trio released a single album,
Out Loud, on
Warner Bros. Records.
1990s: Production, reformed Chic and death of Edwards, Sumthing Else In September 1990, shortly after the death of
Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Rodgers-produced
Vaughan Brothers album
Family Style was released. He produced records for
David Bowie,
Eric Clapton,
the B-52s,
David Lee Roth,
Ric Ocasek,
the Stray Cats and others early in the decade, and worked on the soundtracks for
Thelma and Louise,
Cool World, and
The Beavis and Butt-head Experience. 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 with
Sister Sledge,
Steve Winwood, and
Slash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan. 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." A year later, Rodgers returned to Japan to pay homage to Edwards, and in 1999, Rodgers released
Live at the Budokan, a live recording of Edwards' final performance. The album was not overdubbed or changed in order to keep the recording pure. Rodgers started playing live concerts again while composing and producing music for the film soundtracks
Beverly Hills Cop III,
Blue Chips,
The Flintstones and
Feeling Minnesota, working with
Bob Dylan, among others. He played guitar on
Seal's cover of "
Fly Like an Eagle" for the
Space Jam soundtrack, which hit #10 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in 1996. and was nominated for the 1998
Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. In 1998, Rodgers founded Sumthing Else Music Works record label and
Sumthing 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. Its titles include the
Halo,
Resident Evil,
Gears of War and
Borderlands series.
2000s: Film and video game soundtracks, We Are Family Foundation In the early 2000s, Rodgers worked extensively on film and video game soundtracks, including
Halo 2,
Rush Hour 2,
Snow Dogs, and
Semi-Pro starring
Will Ferrell, who co-wrote the title song "
Love Me Sexy" with Rodgers. In 2002, Rodgers returned to work again with the original five members of Duran Duran when he co-produced
Astronaut. The album rose to No. 3 in the UK. Following the
September 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 in
Los Angeles at the
Record Plant. The accompanying music video was directed by
Spike Lee. An 80-minute documentary,
The Making and Meaning of We Are Family, directed by
Danny Schechter, premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2002. In a collaboration between
Disney,
Nickelodeon and
PBS, 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. In July 2002, Rodgers co-founded the
We Are Family Foundation with his life partner, Nancy Hunt. 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.
2010s: Autobiography, Daft Punk, Songwriters Hall of Fame, ''It's About Time'' In 2010,
Rhino Records released a four-CD
box 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 by
Spiegel & Grau, a
Random House imprint, in late 2011. It was named one of the top 10 of the 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time by
Rolling Stone. In February 2012, Rodgers announced that he was collaborating with electronic band
Daft Punk for their latest album, "teasing out their R&B influences". 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 the
UK Singles Chart at No. 3, only 24 hours after its release, and two weeks later rose to No. 1. In an interview with
Official 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.
Rhino Records released
Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization Up 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 released
Nile 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 2013
Glastonbury Festival. Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were nominated to the
Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2013. In January 2014, Rodgers performed
"Get Lucky" with
Daft Punk on the Grammy Awards, along with
Pharrell Williams and
Stevie 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 on
Random Access Memories, including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Record of the Year and Album of the Year. 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." In December, NARAS announced that "Le Freak" would be inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame. Rodgers' solo single "Do What You Wanna Do (
IMS Anthem)" was released on August 10, 2014 to benefit the We Are Family Foundation. A year later, in March 2015, Rodgers released
Chic's first single in more than 23 years, "
I'll Be There", with a live streamed concert from The Roundhouse in London. The song was produced using original Chic outtake tapes from the 70s, with
Bernard Edwards,
Tony Thompson, and vocalists Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin. The song went to No. 1 on
Billboard's Dance Music Chart on June 20, 2015. In August, Rodgers launched FOLD Festival (FreakOut! Let's Dance), a multi-day event with a diverse line-up of artists including
Beck,
Duran Duran,
Chaka Khan,
Keith Urban,
Janelle Monáe,
Ginger Minj, Chic and others. Rodgers collaborated with
Lady Gaga to remake Chic's hit, "I Want Your Love" for
Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2016 collection video in lieu of a fashion show. Rodgers and
Bernard Edwards were inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 9, 2016. In 2017, after 11 nominations for Chic, Rodgers was inducted into the
Rock 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." 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. 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 featured
Mura Masa,
Cosha and
Vic Mensa. 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. Two singles from the album were subsequently released: "Sober" featuring
Craig David and
Stefflon Don, and "Do You Wanna Party" featuring
LunchMoney Lewis. In December 2018, Nile Rodgers & Chic began their first UK arena tour. They were nominated for a
Brit Award in the "Best International Group Category", in January 2019. In July 2018, Rodgers co-founded
Hipgnosis Songs Fund with
Merck Mercuriadis. An IP investment and song management company, Hipgnosis Songs Fund went public later that year. In November 2018, to mark the 40th anniversary of "Le Freak", Rhino/Atlantic released
The Chic Organisation 1977-79, a 6-CD box set containing Chic's first three albums, Sister Sledge's
We 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. 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. 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.
2020s: Keith Urban, Beyoncé, Grammys, Coldplay 2022 Rodgers has hosted a podcast on
Apple Music since August 2020. Titled
Deep Hidden Meaning, he has interviewed guests including
David Foster,
Carole Bayer Sager,
Bryan Adams,
Timbaland, and
Paul McCartney. It was nominated for a British Podcast Award in 2024. 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. The single debuted at number 7 on the Official UK Singles Chart and number 1 on both the Official UK Singles Sales Chart and the Official UK Singles Download Chart. Among other artists, in 2021, Rodgers worked with
Jack Savoretti (for his album
Europiana) and Keith Urban. In April 2021 he teamed with Urban and
Breland on the music video for "The Cage", a track from Urban's 2020 album
The Speed of Now Part 1. He produced
The Big Decider, the first album by
The Zutons 13 years. In the summer of 2021, Rodgers, with Constellation Immersive, launched DiscOasis, an ongoing 1970s-themed disco and roller skating pop-up party at the
South Coast Botanic Garden in
Rancho Palos Verdes. Developed in part to provide an outside experience during the
COVID-19 pandemic, DJs select music from crates of records that Rodgers hand picked from his personal collection. In July 2022, Hipgnosis Songs Fund was valued at US $2.69 billion. An asteroid approximately 300 million miles away from Earth was named nilerodgers (191911) in honor of Rodgers' 70th birthday in 2022. 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. Rodgers performed "
Modern Love" and "
Let's Dance" with
Josh Homme,
Omar Hakim and
Gaz Coombes at the
Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium on September 3, 2022. In 2023, Rodgers won two
Grammy Awards, for
Best Electronic/Dance Album and
Best R&B Song ("
Cuff It"), for his work with Beyoncé on her 2022 album
Renaissance; in the same occasion, he also received the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In the same year, he was featured on the title track of South Korean girl group
Le Sserafim's album
Unforgiven. He also collaborated with Duran Duran on their single "
Black Moonlight", one of three original songs on Duran Duran's Halloween-inspired album
Danse Macabre. Finally, he starred in the 2023
Chanel eyewear campaign. In October 2023, he re-united with Chic for a live performance at
NPR's
Tiny Desk Concert: the half-hour set included "Le Freak". "Let's Dance", "Get Lucky" and "Soul Glo", a fake
commercial jingle Rodgers wrote for the 1988 film
Coming to America. 2025. In January 2024, the
World 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." In March, he was named
Polar Music Prize Laureate, together with
Esa-Pekka Salonen. He was among many star guitarists to contribute to a new version of
Mark Knopfler's "
Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero" in aid of the
Teenage Cancer Trust, produced the song "Electric Energy" (with
Ariana DeBose and
Boy George) for
Maetthew Vaughn's film
Argylle, and worked with
Alfie Templeman on his second studio album,
Radiosoul, featuring on the track "Just A Dance". He provided guitar on Norwegian DJ
Kygo's
self-titled fifth studio album, on the track "For Life", also featuring English singer
Zak Abel. He also provided additional guitar on British
pop rock band
Coldplay's song "Good Feelings", which features vocals from Nigerian singer
Ayra Starr. The song was included on the band's tenth studio album
Moon 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). Rodgers featured on "Talk To Me", with
Damiano David and
Tyla, which was released in September 2025. == Television and film ==