Nile Rodgers will guide viewers through his musical legacy in a new three-part series for BBC Four this October called 'Nile Rodgers: How To Make It In The Music Business’.
The weekly series will take a look at the career of the multiple Grammy-award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as Nile Rodgers shares the secrets of his success, what it takes to make it to the very top of the music industry and how to stay relevant decade after decade.
In the first episode which airs on Friday 6th October, Nile reveals the source of the inspiration for many of his songs, including the story behind the iconic nightclub Studio 54 turning him away at the door which resulted in him writing the classic disco hit ‘Le Freak’. Nile also speaks candidly about his troubled childhood and how music became both his companion and saviour.
Nile Rodgers said: “When I was learning my craft, I was happy to pick up every nugget of knowledge that would help me develop into a professional. I quickly realised, that I needed to figure out what worked for me. Understanding risks, rewards, benefits and failures was imperative to have a lifelong career in music. For myself, nothing was a better teacher than failure, and success wasn't as satisfying as I'd thought, because I needed to do it over and over again to know whether it was real - or just a fluke.”
Throughout the series, Nile discusses success and how to embrace failure which he experienced in the 80s era when the ‘Death of Disco’ forced him off the stage and into the recording studio. Nile tells how he survived the downward spiral of drugs, alcohol and overwork, and reinvented himself which led him to work with a new generation of artists like Daft Punk, Laura Mvula and Keith Urban.
The final episode exclusively features the new and unreleased CHIC record, ‘I Believe In Music’, from CHIC’s forthcoming new album ‘It’s About Time’. The new song sums up Nile’s personal philosophy toward the art form that has dominated his life and viewers can hear it for the first time on BBC Four.
Also in the series, viewers can expect to see several interviews with Nile’s collaborators, including the iconic DJ and producer Mark Ronson, Award-winning singer/songwriter Carly Simon and former Tamla Motown Executive, Keith Harris. Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes describes Nile’s use of complex chord patterns and recalled the band’s highly successful collaboration on ‘The Reflex’ and their critically-acclaimed album ‘Notorious’. The series also features Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge who recalls the joyous way Nile worked with her and her sisters to produce their internationally successful album ‘We Are Family’ and the hit single, ‘He’s the Greatest Dancer’.
Jan Younghusband, Head of Music TV Commissioning said: “Nile Rodgers gives us the inside track into working in the music business, and talks candidly about his incredible experiences working with great artists from Madonna to David Bowie, Laura Mvula and Daft Punk. Nile is a force in the industry and this new series is an extraordinary insight into how it works, in a way only he would know.”
‘Nile Rodgers: How To Make It In The Music Business’ has been produced by 1212 Productions for BBC Four.
