Nile Rodgers: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLil Nas X will be honored at the long-awaited 51 st annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala next month with the Hal David Starlight Award, which recognizes “gifted young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs.”Nas, a Sony Music Publishing writer, joins previous honorees Drake, Taylor Swift, Halsey, Sara Bareilles, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Benny Blanco, John Mayer and others. The award, created in 2004, was named in honor of SHOF chairman emeritus Hal David for his support of young songwriters.The ceremony, the first since 2019, is slated for Thursday, June 16 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Ed Sheeran is putting his support behind Ukraine with his new music video for “2Step”.

Manic Street Preachers performed ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ at the benefit ‘Concert For Ukraine’ this evening (March 29).Announced earlier this month, the two-hour benefit show is raising money for the Disasters Emergency Committee‘s (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and is being held at Resorts World Arena, Birmingham.The band performed the 1998 single, which was inspired by the Spanish Civil War, and the idealism of Welsh volunteers who joined the left-wing International Brigades fighting for the Spanish Republic against Francisco Franco’s military rebels, with an orchestra.Bassist Nicky Wire also had his microphone draped in a feather boa in the Ukraine flag colours.

Billie Eilish and Finneas have delivered a message of support at tonight’s (March 29) ‘Concert For Ukraine’.Announced earlier this month, the two-hour benefit show is raising money for the Disasters Emergency Committee‘s (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and is being held at Resorts World Arena, Birmingham.Eilish appeared via video link with brother Finneas shortly before a performance from the Manic Street Preachers.Eilish said: “Hi everyone, we are so sorry we can’t be there tonight but we still wanted to offer all of our love and support to everyone performing and most importantly to express the support and solidarity with the millions of people who’ve been forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind.”Finneas added: “The charities delivering humanitarian aid are doing a vital job so we want to say thank you to them and thanks to you for giving whatever you can.”Elsewhere in the show, Jamala, who won the  Eurovision Song Contest for Ukraine in 2016, appeared at the concert.Jamala, who was forced to flee her home in the Ukraine two weeks ago, delivered an emotive performance of her Eurovision winning song ‘1944’ holding a Ukrainian flag throughout.Ed Sheeran leads the line-up, and is set to perform along with Camila Cabello, Emeli Sandé, Gregory Porter, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Tom Odell, Anne Marie, Snow Patrol, and Becky Hill.All sponsorship and advertising revenue generated from the broadcast of the event – which is expected to raise over £3million – will be donated by ITV to the DEC fund.

Antytila have spoken to NME from the frontline of Kyiv, ahead of tonight’s benefit show for the war-torn country.Announced last week, the two-hour Concert For Ukraine will take place in Birmingham tonight (March 29) in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee‘s (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The concert will be televised on ITV and will see performances from the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Paloma Faith, Camila Cabello, Becky Hill, Anne Marie and Ed Sheeran.Sheeran in particular made headlines when one of Ukraine’s most popular bands, Antytila, posted a plea to the singer-songwriter to allow them to play the concert remotely from the frontline of Kyiv, where they are defending the capital against Russian invaders.Sheeran later responded by saying that “I love you, I stand with you” to all Ukrainians and that he “couldn’t wait” to check the band’s music out.

Ukrainian band Antytila wants to share their music with Ed Sheeran’s Concert For Ukraine.

Concert For Ukraine has added more huge names to its line-up.Nile Rodgers and Chic, Manic Street Preachers, Tom Odell, Becky Hill and The Kingdom Choir have all been freshly announced for the show, which takes place next Tuesday (March 29) at Resorts World Arena Birmingham.Announced last week, the two-hour benefit show will air live on ITV in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee‘s (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Chris Willman Music WriterFamously mercurial rocker Van Morrison has not shown the same enthusiasm for Oscar campaigning that many of this year’s other Academy Awards nominees have. He and the equally press-shy Beyonce have done little or no promotion for their respective nominations for best song, or for anything else that involves interviews.

Kathy Sledge dominated the disco era with her musical sisters in Sister Sledge, and now she's spilled the studio secrets behind her former band's iconic hits like We Are Family.The legendary soul singer, 63, shot to fame in the 1970s as a member of the family disco group Sister Sledge, who scored timeless pop tracks such as We Are Family, He's the Greatest Dancer, and Lost in Music.The band famously worked with world renowned record producer and Chic star Nile Rodgers on a number of their hits, including We Are Family, He's the Greatest Dancer, Lost in Music and Thinking of You.They also worked with late producer Bernard Edwards as they brewed their pop magic in the studio.Kathy spoke exclusively to Daily Star ahead of her May 14 show at London's O2 Indigo with her band - Sister Sledge featuring Kathy Sledge.The Sledge sister dished on the studio secrets behind Sister Sledge's greatest hits, and what it was like to join forces with genius producer Nile Rodgers.Kathy said Nile and Bernard wanted "spontaneity" in their hits and didn't want them to sound rehearsed, which meant Kathy and her sisters weren't allowed to hear the soon-to-be hits until the moment before they sung them.She said: "Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards had this thing where they wanted spontaneity. "They wanted you to be spontaneous with the lyrics and with the melody and they didn't want it to sound rehearsed."So because of that, I wasn’t allowed to hear anything, and now I get it, of course.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame will celebrate this year’s Oscar-nominated songwriters with an all-star virtual event, A Conversation with 2022 Oscar-Nominated Songwriters for Best Original Song, to be presented on March 3, 2022 at 5 pm Pacific time.

Glamour: So you really never get tired of “We Are Family”?Debbie Sledge: Oh my goodness, no. The longevity of that song, it's still going. It touches all generations.

Nile Rodgers has shared a new spatial audio tale called Story For Sleep: A Peaceful Winter Night – listen below.The legendary Chic musician narrated the story for the latest instalment of ‘From Apple Music With Love’, an ongoing Christmas countdown series featuring exclusive releases from a host of big acts.Subscribers to the platform can access a new exclusive “gift” on a daily basis between November 26 and December 3. Yesterday’s edition (November 30) saw Elton John share Inside The Lockdown Sessions, a new documentary focusing on the creation of his star-studded latest album.Today (December 1) Rodgers treated fans to “the perfect nighttime remedy” to get to sleep.

Ricky Wilson has revealed that Kaiser Chiefs have been in the studio with Chic’s Nile Rodgers, working on new music.Speaking to BANG Showbiz (via Contactmusic), Wilson said “there is always an album on the horizon,” but the band needs to figure out “how far the horizon is.”“We have a lot of material,” he continued before revealing they’ve “just been in the studio last week with Nile Rodgers and been writing stuff with him.”He went on to say he didn’t know when they’d be releasing new music but “you’ll probably hear something from those sessions in spring.”Kaiser Chiefs last released an album in 2019, with ‘Duck’.

Rod Stewart, Imelda May and Nile Rodgers are among the names set to take part in an all-star Christmas service next month.The Stars Come Out To Sing At Christmas 2021 will take place at St. Luke’s Church in Chelsea, London on December 14  at 7pm GMT in aid of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy.

Diana Ross, Lionel Richie and Nile Rodgers & Chic have been announced for Cambridge Club Festival 2022 – check out the full line-up below.The event is set to take place at Childerley Orchard in Cambridge between June 10 and June 12. You can purchase tickets here.This week, organisers confirmed the first wave of acts for the “feel-good family festival[‘s]” 2022 edition.

Nile Rodgers has said in a new interview that he wants to release several unheard collaborations that he did with Avicii.The Chic star – who first worked with the late EDM producer on the track ‘Lay Me Down’, taken from the latter’s 2013 album ‘True’ – stopped by Swedish TV show Skavlan last week to discuss his impressive career, which stretches back to the early ’70s.During the chat, he revealed a desire to put out some of the tracks he and Avicii worked on, provided he got the blessing of the Swedish producer’s family and estate.“I love Tim. We wrote a lot,” Rodgers said.

The Zutons are recording their first album in 13 years at Abbey Road Studios, with Nile Rodgers on production.The new studio sessions come after the Liverpool band reunited for a tour celebrating the 15th anniversary of their 2004 debut album ‘Who Killed…… The Zutons?’ in 2019.Speaking to NME, frontman Dave McCabe said after their last album – 2008’s ‘You Can Do Anything’ – the band had all fallen out. “We all hated each other, but we never quite split up,” he said.

The last 18 months may have decimated the live scene, but many people have sought comfort, distraction and even solace from recorded music - making the Ivor Novello Awards, which celebrate songwriting, arguably more important than ever. Harry Styles, Lianne La Havas, Celeste, Goldfrapp and Dave were among the winners at this year's ceremony, which was held in London.

Nile Rodgers and CHIC, the line up included sets by The Zutons, Rebecca Ferguson and Andy Mac. There were blue skies before sunset and people were dressed to impress for the start of the four day waterfront festival.

Usain Bolt and Idris Elba will feature on the celebrity line-up of Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast reboot.As part of the channel’s Black to Front Project, The Big Breakfast returns with new hosts Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu on Friday (September 10) at 8am.The celebrity guests have been announced for the two-hour special, including Olympic legend Usain Bolt, Nile Rodgers, Eve, Idris Elba, Krept & Konan and Tokyo 2020 medallists Emily Campbell and Kye White.The reboot will be broadcast live from the show’s original East London location, the Lock Keeper’s Cottages.

Just minutes after the news of Charlie Watts’ passing broke, the band posted a statement from the dummer’s publicist expressing “immense sadness” at his passing and remembering him as “one of the greatest drummers of his generation.”