Chic’s funk-disco hit “Le Freak” from 1978 was my first encounter with the music of Nile and his long-time collaborator Bernard Edwards. He also wrote and played with artists like Ashford and Simpson, Luther Vandross and Sister Sledge. In the 1980s, he continued to write tracks and produce albums for Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Madonna, Duran Duran, INXS and my favorite Bowie records. The list goes on (Wikipedia).
What stands out when looking at images of Nile, he is basically always smiling. Having followed his online presences for some time and seen him live once, he comes across as an genuinely nice person too. His stories-between-tracks from the stage was really entertaining. When working on this image, I noticed how well-used this guitar was. Scuffed and scraped with deep indentations on the fretboard from hours and hours of playing, and almost an extension of his body.
Nile Rodgers also received the prestigious Polar Music Prize in 2024, and there is a very good article about his carreer at the official site.
(I have not been able to identify the photographer of the original photo, sadly. This was published, as far as I can tell, in 2014 on a site called essence.com, without a photo credit. It’s a great shot!)