Nile Rodgers owes his music career to Michael Jackson.
The Chic legend says that without the late King of Pop inviting him to work on his 1995 record ‘HiStory’, he wouldn’t have returned to the industry after disbanding with the ‘Le Freak’ group in 1983.
Rodgers – who played on the song ‘Money’ – told BANG Showbiz: "24 years ago when I’d stopped playing music for around eight months, I got a call from Michael Jackson to come down to the studio and work with him on his album ‘HiStory’. He was a good friend at the time and it thanks to him that I got back into the music industry."
Nile Rodgers & Chic are back with their first album since 1992’s ‘Chic-ism’ , double LP It’s About Time’, released on September 7.
The record – which features collaborations from the likes of Blondie, Bruno Mars, Craig David and Stefflon Don – was partly delayed due to the deaths of Rodgers’ famous musician pals, Prince, David Bowie, George Michael and Chris Cornell.
Rodgers – who was diagnosed with prostate cancer six years ago but was given the all-clear in 2014 – underwent surgery for cancer on his right kidney last year, which also added to the delay.
The ‘Get Lucky’ guitarist’s music is an account of real life, so when his musician friends passed away, he needed to respond through his art.
He explained: "I’ve been recording this project for a very long time. It’s not because we didn’t have the material.
"I look at albums like films. To me an album is the world that I see at that moment in time, so every song that I’ve ever written is all based on reality."
Nile has teamed up with American Express for Backed By www.backedby.co.uk, a new initiative to offer a budding musician the opportunity to win a unique backing experience with the music legend and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. For more info and for your chance to win click here www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/amex-competition-nile-rodgers-backing-experience_uk_5b054adee4b07c4ea103908d.
Nile Rodgers owes career to Michael Jackson
