Rock 'n' Roll

Nile Rodgers: Hitmaker and the Godfather of Disco

by Andrew Goutman · August 24, 2025

Source: Wikipedia

Nile Rodgers dabbled in various musical genres after the disco ’70s, producing hits for David Bowie, Madonna, and Diana Ross.

Lightbulb Goes Off

Nile Rodgers had a great idea for his budding R&B touring band at the dawn of the ’70s. “We didn’t want to be a small band playing bar mitzvahs for the rest of our lives,” Rodgers told the Washington Post in 1978. “So we got into disco.”

At the time, disco was finding its niche in underground dance clubs in New York City, with DJs spinning commercialized R&B (and Latin salsa) to a Black, gay, and Hispanic clientele. Disco was gaining popularity due to its steady, pounding four-on-the-floor beat, offset by a syncopated hi-hat pattern. That’s what got people up on the dance floor.

Nile Rodgers was a product of New York City’s Lower East Side and came of age just as jazz, boogaloo, Latino, and African rhythms were making their mark on the city’s music scene. Rodgers learned the flute and clarinet before picking up a guitar at age 16. He met bassist Bernard Edwards in 1970 and began a most productive partnership.

European Influence

While their entry into disco might have been purely opportunistic, Rodgers and Edwards set out to put their own funky stamp on dance music.”We developed a new sound,” Rodgers remembered, “that was a fusion of jazz, soul, and funk grooves, with melodies and lyrics that were more European influenced.”

The “European influence” was important. When Rodgers and Edwards traveled to England in the early ’70s, they were blown away by a stylish, glam-rock band called Roxy Music. When they returned to New York, Rodgers told Edwards, “We have got to do a black version of this shit.” Enter Chic.

Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in the ’70s. Source: discogs.com

Chic

Chic was formed just as disco music was skyrocketing worldwide. Chic signed with Atlantic Records and released a self-titled album in 1977 that included the hits “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” and “Everybody Dance.” The next year, Chic scored their first number one hit with “Le Freak,” which was Atlantic Records’ only triple platinum single at the time. Music critic Luke Edwards wrote at the time:

Combining Nile Rodgers’ hiccuping upper fretwork and Bernard Edwards’ hyperactive and fidgety bass, Chic succeeded in concocting a melange of funk and R&B that oozed sensuality, aided by the seductive vocals of Alfa Anderson, Diva Gray, and Luci Martin.

Good Times

In 1979, Chic scored their second number one hit with “Good Times.” For a song with a simple chord structure and “roller disco” lyrics, “Good Times” is much honored: It ranks 68th on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” and Billboard named “Good Times” the number one soul single of 1979. Notably, “Good Times” influenced a generation of rappers, from the Sugarhill Gang (“Rapper’s Delight”) and Grandmaster Flash to Daft Punk.

Here is Chic performing “Good Times” on Johnny Carson in 1978, three+ minutes long, published by Master Music Box via YouTube:

The Godfather of Disco

Nile Rodgers’ work with Chic gave him access to R&B and disco performers on the Atlantic label, and allowed him to flex other musical muscles, namely composing and producing. Edwards and Rodgers wrote “We Are Family,” the 1979 anthemic hit for Sister Sledge that was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Hitmaker

The radio-inspired “Disco Sucks” campaign, along with Rodgers’ accelerating drug abuse (his mother and father were both heroin addicts), sealed Chic’s fate at the dawn of the ’80s. But Rodgers and Edwards kept on keeping on, writing and producing disco-flavored songs for Diana Ross (Upside Down” and “I’m Coming Out”), Madonna (“Material Girl”), INXS (“Original Sin”), and Duran Duran (“The Reflex”). And then there was David Bowie.

Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers are with David Bowie. Photo by Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images and Louder

David Bowie

By the start of the ’80s, David Bowie was tired of the clown suits and Ziggy Stardust. “The whole facade came tumbling down,” he said. “I wanted something new that makes a statement in a more universal field.” Bowie happened to bump into Rodgers in New York City in 1982, and the two bonded over their love for jazz. A collaboration was mentioned and Bowie told Rodgers, “I want you to do what you do best. I want you to make hits.”

The result: the gorgeous, stylistic album Let’s Dance, David Bowie’s all-time best-selling album that yielded three monster hits in “Let’s Dance,” “China Girl” (an Iggy Pop cover), and “Modern Love.” Rodgers co-produced and played rhythm guitar due to the strong presence of a then-unknown lead guitar player named Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Perhaps Nile Rodgers had finally channeled his inner Roxy Music. He helped transform David Bowie from being a costumed androgyny into a crooner singing danceable pop classics.

Coda

Bernard Edwards died of pneumonia on April 18. 1996, at age 43. His bass line on the Chic hit “Good Times” (see video above) has long been regarded as one of the most iconic passages of music in rock ‘n’ roll history. Edwards is credited with one solo album, Glad To Be Here, released in 1983.

Nile Rodgers got sober in 1994 and continued to produce albums for a wide variety of A-List performers. After Edwards’ death, Rodgers worked extensively on film and video game soundtracks.

After 11 tries for Chic, Rodgers was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo performer in 2017. He famously responded, “I feel like somebody put me into a lifeboat and told my family they couldn’t get in.” Rodgers tours to this day.