Every record I have done was because I was a person’s friend. The only time we did not continue to be friends was if the record did not become a hit. If it did, we became great friends. – Nile Rodgers
Bands always call me when they are in need of a boost and I come in and put them back on top. – Nile Rodgers
With Sumthin Else Music Works, I wanted to spread the love and give newcomers a chance to make it because something that really helped me were all the people who had given me an opportunity when I was putting my career together. – Nile Rodgers
Music has to keep moving. But I was lucky. For me there was always something around the corner. – Nile Rodgers
Art, well good art at least, takes you to a place you go during the experience of it, and then after you experience it you are different. – Nile Rodgers
I’ve had insomnia since I was five years old. I just don’t require much sleep. I’m never tired. – Nile Rodgers
I’m always swimming forward like a shark. You just keep going and you don’t rest. I love waking up knowing that I have a problem to solve. – Nile Rodgers
Trust me, the only real way to understand ‘Chic’ is in highfalutin terms. Our chord progressions were based on European modal melodies. I made those early ‘Chic’ records to impress my jazz friends. – Nile Rodgers
Art is something that opens up and enhances your emotions and that’s what I like to think I’m doing. – Nile Rodgers
I am very rich because of ‘Chic’ – artistically as well as spiritually. It’s been an amazing life. – Nile Rodgers
The only person I have regrets about is Miles Davis. He and I had become good friends after we did a photo shoot, and coincidentally, we kept running into each other at parties and stuff. I regret not having written a hit for Miles Davis. – Nile Rodgers
Any real record person knows that the number one most powerful marketing tool when it comes to music is repetition. – Nile Rodgers
I’d probably be a super wealthy guy if I had sat around writing songs and getting them placed like everyone else I know. But I write songs about people or after I meet them and they’re somewhat biographical – they’re fiction but also non-fiction. – Nile Rodgers
I’ve been working since I was a child. I worked cutting lawns, delivering newspapers; I was a telephone salesperson; I was a guitar repairman. – Nile Rodgers
Music is the one part of the entertainment business where you can’t fool anybody into buying a record. – Nile Rodgers
I think the hardest thing to overcome is judging yourself and being your own worst critic so to speak. – Nile Rodgers
It feels like my job is to support people. I support great artists. When I worked with a symphony, I sat in the third chair, not the first chair. – Nile Rodgers
I used to play flute and clarinet at school, and although I wasn’t thinking about making a living or getting a pay cheque, I already knew I was going to play music all my life. – Nile Rodgers
My childhood was bittersweet in many ways. We moved around a lot. By the time I was 10, I had travelled thousands of miles, often on my own. My parents were like my friends, so it felt like I didn’t really have parents at all. But in a crazy way that was very liberating. It forced me to be independent, maybe a leader, and certainly a survivor. – Nile Rodgers
Nobody under the sun was like Madonna. She was positive and clear and wholly dedicated to achieving everything that she’s achieved. – Nile Rodgers
It was actually my partner, Bernard Edwards, who helped me develop my sort of funky jazz style. – Nile Rodgers
