The biggest regret of Nile Rodgers’ career
The list of artists Nile Rodgers has worked with throughout his eclectic career is nothing short of mindboggling. The musician has been a pivotal part of the careers of David Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk, Sister Sledge, Duran Duran and countless others. However, there’s one artist that sadly evaded him.
In the late 1970s, there was nobody else more in demand for producing duties than Rodgers and his Chic bandmate Bernard Edwards. It had been a long road to success for the duo who previously performed under the banner of The Big Apple Band. However, it wasn’t until they rebranded as Chic that things finally took off for the pair, and the world was soon their oyster.
Following the release of dancefloor fillers like ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Everybody Dance’, Rodgers and Edwards had proved themselves to be a walking hit factory. Their label, Atlantic, told the duo they could produce for any artist on their roster, and they then turned Sister Sledge into superstars with We Are Family.
Every artist on the planet was desperate to work with him, including The Rolling Stones, who he knocked back. Rodgers isn’t filled with regret about saying no to The Stones, but the opportunity he passed on to create magic with Miles Davis keeps him up at night.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, Rodgers explained: “The single biggest mistake of my entire life was not taking Miles Davis seriously when he said: ‘Write me a motherfucking ‘Good Times”. We had done an Issy Miyake photoshoot together and become friends, but I still couldn’t believe that he would ask me to help him make a hit record. This is a great man who changed my life – and he wanted me to help change his. The same thing happened when I first met David Bowie and he wanted a hit record: I thought he was joking.”
Despite Davis initiating the collaboration, Rodgers felt he wasn’t worthy of telling his hero what to do in a studio and ignored his advances. When the iconic trumpeter sadly passed away in 1991, the Chic founder was left to stew on his regret about what they could have created.
Rodgers continued: “Miles and I would party, and then one night he just asked me to write him a song like ‘Good Times’, the record we released in 1979. Time is a funny thing for me, but I believe he kept asking me for about two years, and all that time I couldn’t believe he was serious.”
He concluded: “Miles Davis was 100% clear but I didn’t hear him. I guess I didn’t think this icon would need me. It’s hard for me when I put it in perspective. I do stuff because I’m having a good time, not because I’m some kind of legend. I’ve had to have other people define me.”
During the time they were partying, Davis was on a hiatus and plotting his comeback. If he had teamed with the world’s hottest producer, it could have changed the periphery of the latter stages of his career and provided the jazz extraordinaire with the hit he so deeply craved.
