Nile Rodgers facts: Age, songs, bands and collaborations of the Chic superstar

25 June 2025, 11:46 | Updated: 28 June 2025, 12:11

Whether he's going it alone or working with others, everything Nile Rodgers touches turns to gold.

If Nile Rodgers had only ever been a member of Chic, he would have easily earned his spot in music history,

But Nile has done much, much more than that.

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He's worked as a sideman and collaborator with generation upon generation of artists, helping funk up the sounds of everyone from David Bowie and Madonna to Daft Punk and Peter Gabriel.

But do you know how Nile Rodgers broke through to become a star, and why Sesame Street was a crucial part in his story?

Read on for everything you need to know about one of the all-time great musician, songwriter and producer.

How old is Nile Rodgers and where did he grow up?

Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. was born on September 19, 1952 in the Lower East Side of New York City, He celebrated his 72nd birthday in 2024.

His mum Beverly Goodman was just 14 when she gave birth to him. He didn't see his dad, Nile Rodger Sr. much before he died in 1970.

Beverley married what Rodgers later called "beatnik PhD" Bobby Glanzrock in 1959 and they raised Nile in New York City's Greenwich Village.

How did Nile Rodgers get into music?

I'm Doin' Fine Now

Nile didn't have the easiest childhood. Both his parents were heroin addicts, and he himself began using illegal drugs when he was just 13.

On the plus side, his step-father's quirky scene contacts meant his house hosted the likes of Thelonious Monk, Richard Prior and Lenny Bruce.

Rodgers learned the flute and clarinet, before picking up the guitar aged 16. He played with all sorts of bands: jazz groups, Boogaloo, African music, Latin and more.

He got a gig working as a touring musician for the Sesame Street stage show, where he met a bass player by the name of Bernard Edwards in 1970.

They backed up vocal group New York City who scored a number 17 hit with 'I'm Doin' Fine Now'. The group opened for The Jackson 5 on tour in 1973, but when New York City's second album flopped, they soon broke up.

Rodgers and Edwards stuck together though, forming The Boys. They changed their name to The Big Apple Band and worked with the likes of Luther Vandross and Ashford & Simpson. They also hooked up with drummer Tony Thompson.

Made aware of another group called The Big Apple Band, in 1977, they changed their name to Chic. Thompson suggested they enlist his former Ecstasy, Passion & Pain keyboard player Raymond Jones, and they then added Norma Jean Wright as singer. Another singer Luci Martin soon joined, too.

First came 'Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)'. Then 'Everybody Dance'. After years toiling away, Nile Rodgers was an overnight success.

What were Chic's biggest songs?

CHIC - Everybody Dance (Official Music Video)

Chic released seven studio albums between 1977 and 1983, going from their self-titled Chic to Believer.

After a near decade-long break, they released Chic-ism in 1992, and in 2018 came It's About Time, the only Chic album recorded after the death of Bernard Edwards from pneumonia in 1996

Chic's biggest songs include:

• Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)
• Everybody Dance
• Le Freak
• I Want Your Love
• Good Times
• My Forbidden Lover
• Rebels Are We
• Real People
• Soup For One
• Hangin'
• Chic Mystique
• Your Love
• I'll Be There
• Till The World Falls
• Sober

What artists has Nile Rodgers collaborated with over the years?

David Bowie - Let's Dance (Official Video)

Nile Rodgers is a singular genius as a songwriter, producer and musician, but he's also maybe pop's greatest collaborator.

One of the most crucial hook-ups came when Nile and Bernard were tasked with making Sister Sledge a success,

The duo wrote and produced (and played don) every single song on the girls' 1979 album We Are Family, which included not just the title track but also the hits 'He's The Greatest Dancer', 'Lost in Music' and 'Thinking Of You'.

They also did the same on follow-up's Love Somebody Today, and while they stepped away after that, Nile Rodgers returned to produce 1985's When The Boys Meet The Girls.

Rodgers and Edwards also worked with the likes of Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Debbie Harry (her solo debut KooKoo), Johnny Mathis, Sheila & B. Devotion and Norma Jean Wright.

Nile never really took a pause, overcoming severe health problems to become an elder statesman of funk, pop, soul and rock 'n' roll.

Daft Punk - Get Lucky (Official Audio) ft. Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers

His heart apparently stopped eight times during an incident in the early 1990s, and he quit drugs and alcohol for good in 1994. In 2010, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he chronicled his illness on his acclaimed Walking on Planet C blog.

He had the all clear in 2013, and after he was diagnosed with cancer in his kidney in 2017, was once again given the all-clear following surgery.

Through all those years, Nile continued to sprinkle his magic dust on other artists.

There was his incredible work with David Bowie (1983's Let's Dance and 1992's Black Tie/White Noise), Madonna's Like a Virgin, Duran Duran's 'The Reflex' and 'Wild Boys', plus records by Peter Gabriel, INXS, Thompson Twins, Sheena Easton, Grace Jones and The B-52's.

In 2013 he appeared on 'Get Lucky', the Daft Punk smash hit that also featured Pharrerll Williams.

Since then he's worked with Adam Lambert, Kylie Minogue, Jake Shears, Pitbull, Craig David, Emilie Sandé, Beyoncé and Post Malone, along others.