Nile Rodgers discusses his pop-disco legacy with CHIC

Courtesy of Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers enjoyed reuniting with his legendary band CHIC for their first performance in over a year during last month’s Juneteenth Unityfest. The guitarist, songwriter and producer says he appreciates being a founder of the legendary pop-disco group, whose music transcends various musical genres.

“We play funky dance music. We started in the late ’70s. Even though CHIC had a very short run in just those two years, every single record we put out was a minimum of gold,” he tells ABC Audio. “And then after we had our first gold record, every record after that was platinum and multiple platinum, every single one.”

Among the hits Rodgers and CHIC co-founder Bernard Edwards crafted were “Dance, Dance, Dance,” and “Good Times,” the latter of which was a major inspiration for The Sugarhill Gang‘s classic “Rapper’s Delight.”

“‘Good Times’ went to number-one, but after that, we never had another number-one record. But my career kept going, because we were already signed with Diana Ross,” Rodgers explains. “We wound up making the biggest Diana Ross record ever.

After CHIC disbanded in the 1980s, Rodgers says he went on to produce a string of major hits for a variety of other artists. “I wound up making the biggest David Bowie record ever. Then the biggest Duran Duran record. Then the biggest Madonna record. Then the biggest INXS record,” he declares.

Looking back over his last 30 years in the music industry, Rodgers says it’s been “a great career,” but he expects to have more hits on the way.

“I look at it as being very fortunate and being lucky,” he adds.