Nile Rodgers

"There is nothing you can say about Nile Rodgers that hasn't already been heard by billions of people, via millions of radio airwaves, in thousands of cities, in hundreds of countries. The career of Nile Rodgers is one of the most enduring and prolific in music. Nile's signature is scrawled across an amazing array of music - from Madonna to Diana Ross, from David Bowie to Eric Clapton.

"Nile first picked up a guitar while still in school and there was no stopping the evident talent that quickly emerged. At the age of 19, Nile not only worked for Sesame Street, but was performing nightly as part of the house band for the world renowned Apollo Theatre in Harlem, playing with luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, Parliament Funkadelic, Ben E. King, and The Cadillacs. Pretty amazing for a skinny kid with glasses from New York City, but he wanted more. Nile Rodgers wanted a band of his own.

"Once the decision was made, Nile searched for a partner in crime. He soon found him in local boy Bernard Edwards, whose perfectly meticulous bass seamlessly complemented Nile's precise guitar. The two were confident enough of their synergy to introduce the world to CHIC in 1977...

"Shortly after producing Rai music superstar Cheb Mami's album Dellali, featuring Sting, Nile embarked upon the biggest project of his life. Nile started the We Are Family Project, A Celebration of Our Common Humanity after the events of September 11th. The project began with a re-recording of We Are Family with over 200 celebrities and an accompanying music video directed by Spike Lee; an 80 minute documentary entitled The Making and Meaning of We Are Family which débuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival to a standing ovation; an unprecedented recording and music video of over 100 famous children's characters singing We Are Family that aired simultaneously on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and PBS on March 11, 2002; a National We Are Family Day spearheaded for passage in Congress by former Senator Robert Dole and Senator Orrin Hatch; limited edition prints of an interpretive artwork entitled "We Are Family" by world renowned artist Francesco Clemente; and a We Are Family exhibit at the Children's Museum of Utah launched during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The We Are Family Foundation was established in July 2002 to promote tolerance and multiculturalism education and to support victims of intolerance, and has since extended its program with several high profile projects."