Nile Rodgers’ music is "therapy" for his mother, who is battling Alzheimer’s.
The CHIC star has revealed that he and his mom Beverly like to discuss his music in a bid to help her and himself through the difficult time.
He said: "My mom is dying right now from Alzheimer’s. It’s taken somewhat of a toll on me mentally … So after starting to visit her more I realised that – and this was something I found really hard to come to terms with – her reality and the rest of the world’s reality are so totally different to one another. And the most, or at least what feels like the most, kind way for me to help my mother live the rest of her life the best way it can be lived is to enter her reality, because I can always leave but she can’t leave. So when she starts talking about the same thing over and over again I act like it’s the first time we’ve said it.
"I’ll say, ‘Hey mom, I’ve got a new record,’ and it doesn’t mean anything to her. I mean, it’ll mean something to her in the moment. She’ll say, ‘Really, wow.’ ‘Yeah, it’s the first time we’ve had a Top 10 since 1979.’ ‘Oh my God, darling that’s fantastic, where did you do that?’ ‘Well, we did it in the UK.’ ‘So, what’s going on now sweetheart?’ Oh well, mom it’s the first time we’ve had a Top 10 since…’ so it’s like that, you know?"
And the 66-year-old musician doesn’t know if it’s "comfort" for his mother or not.
He added: "I don’t know if it’s actually comfort. I don’t wanna judge or even guess as to what it is. All I wanna do is let her be in it, just let her be there."
Nile Rodgers’ therapeutic music
