NILE RODGERS IS IN YOUR HEAD

THE MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH DID NOT come in a briefcase.

- Dave Holmes

It was delivered in a cardboard box that once stored fruit juice, the words 24 BOTTLES printed on it. When you get your million, as part of a settlement for having changed the face of music again, it’s low-key. This is one of the many things you do not expect to learn when you talk to Nile Rodgers.

What you know going in is that Rodgers has always lived in your ears. He co-founded one of the most influential and hitmaking bands of the disco era, Chic, which was responsible for bangers like “Good Times,” “Le Freak,” and “Everybody Dance.” He produced or collaborated on some of the biggest records for Diana Ross (Diana), David Bowie (Let’s Dance), Madonna (Like a Virgin), the B-52’s (Cosmic Thing), and Daft Punk (Random Access Memories). He is among the most profoundly important musicians and producers of the past fifty years but learned early on to stay in the background. In the seventies, Rodgers played in the band for the Sesame Street tours, where the characters took center stage. It instilled discipline and humility; since he is not made of felt, there was no way for him to be a star. “That was the blueprint for the rest of my career,” the sixty-eight-year-old says. “Most people don’t know what I do, don’t know what I’ve written, don’t know what I’ve worked on. You can like the music and not know I did it.”

For decades, Rodgers has mostly let the music speak for itself, but that’s changing. “I have to speak now,” he tells me, “because I’m the only one left who knows the stories.”