Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards introduced the world to CHIC in 1977. "Dance, Dance, Dance", the first single off CHIC's eponymous début, hit the Top 10 and they never looked back. 1978 yielded their second hit, "Everybody Dance", while a third single, "Le Freak", hit No. 1 and became Warner Brothers' biggest selling single of all time. The dynamic duo of Edwards and Rodgers finished off the year by releasing their second album, C'est Chic, which went directly into the Top 5.
The year 1979 brought the singles "I Want Your Love", "Good Times", and a third CHIC album, Risqué. While they still kept their day job as the front men of CHIC, Nile and Bernard were not content to simply propel their own band to the top. They produced and composed the album We Are Family by Sister Sledge and did the same on Diana, the best-selling album by Diana Ross, featuring her smash singles, "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out”.
Though the ‘70s embraced the R&B funk of CHIC, it was the ‘80s that secured Nile's place in music history. While forever bonded, Nile branched away from Bernard in the early ‘80s to collaborate with David Bowie. Their partnership may have raised more than a few eyebrows, but it offered music lovers Let's Dance, the biggest selling record in Bowie's career, and the hits "China Girl", "Modern Love", and "Let's Dance".
With the success of Let's Dance, Nile proved an R&B guy could produce pop and rock. He followed it up by working with a girl from Michigan named Madonna, on a little record called Like A Virgin, which went on to sell 14 million copies in the United States alone. Nile then produced Duran Duran's "The Reflex" single, which stayed at No. 1 for 15 weeks.
After more production collaborations on Duran's "Wild Boys" single and the Notorious album, Nile went on to work with a staggering array of musicians - ranging from Mick Jagger on his She's The Boss record, INXS' groundbreaking "Original Sin" single, The Thompson Twins' Here's To Future Days, Grace Jones' Inside Story, the B-52’s Cosmic Thing, Eric Clapton's Jimi Hendrix tribute album, Stone Free, Paula Abdul, and the unforgettable Beavis and Butthead Experience.
In fall of 2005, CHIC were inducted as artists into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, as was their classic dance song “Good Times”. Nile and Bernard were also singled out and inducted for their groundbreaking work as producers.
History is still in the making. Nile laid down the funky guitar on Joss Stone's single, “You Had Me”, which débuted in the top 10 in the UK, produced the most recent Soul Decision album, Shady Satin Drug and co-produced Duran Duran's latest album, Astronaut with all five original band members. Nile’s production credits include “Everyday People”, Maroon 5’s contribution to Different Strokes from Different Folks, the Sly and The Family Stone tribute,the B-52’s single “Paperback Writer”, the single "Let's Bounce", from the hit film Rush Hour 2 and “Love Me Sexy” , the featured song from Will Ferrell’s new film Semi-Pro.
As the music industry changes, Nile is on the cutting edge of new opportunities for artists. He recently executive produced, produced and contributed to Halo 2: Original Soundtrack, Vol. 1, the number one selling original video game soundtrack of all time. Nile is currently the only African-American to own his own music distribution company – Sumthing Distribution. Sumthing is a leader in the distribution of video game soundtracks including Halo 2 Original Soundtrack Vol. 1, and the original, Halo: Combat Evolved.
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