How Nile Rodgers became a Global Icon

The briefest of glances at Nile Rodgers’ vast and historic achievements reveals he’s lived the life of a man who could justifiably spend the rest of his days with his feet up in some sun-soaked paradise.

The producer of David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance?’ Check. A follow-up gig working with Madonna on ‘Like A Virgin’ after his work with Bowie impressed her so much? That’s a check too. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who was at the epicentre of Studio 54 with his band Chic? Unsurprisingly, a third check. 

And despite all of this, Nile Rodgers has no intentions of hanging up his Fender Stratocaster just yet. You’ll see him bringing the party of the year to festivals across the UK every summer — airing those aforementioned classics and more — while bringing life-affirming vibes by the bucketload.

“There’s just nothing as satisfying as playing live, except from composing. It’s about what my guitar teacher told me: playing to the souls of a million strangers. Playing music to people that I will never, ever meet,” he recently told the BBC.

Rodgers’ story began in 1960s New York. His parents battled heroin addiction, but he recently revealed that their love of culture — and a close friendship with musical greats such as pianist Thelonious Monk — rubbed off on him. When he subsequently picked up his grandfather’s guitar, there was no looking back. 

That love of music set him on the path to becoming a true great, but one that has spanned eras too. He’s had hit songs in the 70s and 80s, but when Daft Punk wanted a disco guitar sound for their 2013 comeback track ‘Get Lucky’, there was only one man to ask.

When the song’s vocalist Pharrell Williams inducted Rodgers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2017, he said: “I remember listening to ‘Get Lucky’ for the first time and it reminded me of a party on an exotic island on another planet.

“It was like musical MDMA; an adrenaline shot for whoever wanted to leave this Earth and travel to a different universe and dimension. It was freedom. It was exuberance. It was unity. It was a throwback to another era. But it was also right now.”

As Williams suggests, Rodgers’ talent and his sound is utterly timeless and is admired across generations — which is one of the surest signs of a legend.

He’s a fighter too, having defeated cancer on two separate occasions and emerged on the other side with his passion for life and music undimmed.

So at the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2024, in recognition of a man with a huge cultural imprint in this country and around the globe, it’s only right to make Nile Rodgers our first ever winner of The Global Icon Award. Now Let’s Dance.