Catch up TV

Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers is one of the most successful and influential figures in popular music. As a songwriter, producer and arranger, he has enjoyed a 50-year career with his bands Chic and Sister Sledge, and collaborations with artists, including Diana Ross, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Madonna, Daft Punk and Beyoncé.\n\nBringing his Fender Stratocaster guitar to the studio, Nile tells John Wilson how the instrument, nicknamed The Hitmaker, has been the bedrock of almost every record that he worked on.\n\nHe discusses his bohemian upbringing in 1950s New York with his mother and stepfather, who were both drug users. He chooses as one of his most important influences his jazz guitar tutor Ted Dunbar, who taught him not only about musical technique but also how to appreciate the artistry of a hit tune. 'It speaks to the souls of a million strangers' he was told.\n\nNile reminisces about his musical partner Bernard Edwards, with whom he set up the Chic Organisation after the pair first met on the club circuit playing with cover bands. He discusses their songwriting techniques and the importance of what they called ‘deep hidden meaning’ in lyrics. He also reflects on the untimely death of Edwards in 1996, shortly after he played a gig with Nile in Tokyo, and why he continues to pay musical tribute to his friend in his globally touring stage show, which includes the songs of Chic and other artists they worked with.

Source: BBC 4