Nile Gregory Rodgers (born September 19, 1952, in New York City) is an American musician, composer, arranger, and guitarist, and is considered one of the most influential music producers in the history of popular music.
Rodgers began his career as a session guitarist in New York, playing with the Sesame Street band in his teens, and then working in the house band at Harlem's renowned Apollo Theater, backing artists like Aretha Franklin, Ben E. Ki...
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Nile Gregory Rodgers (born September 19, 1952, in New York City) is an American musician, composer, arranger, and guitarist, and is considered one of the most influential music producers in the history of popular music.
Rodgers began his career as a session guitarist in New York, playing with the Sesame Street band in his teens, and then working in the house band at Harlem's renowned Apollo Theater, backing artists like Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Nancy Wilson, and Parliament Funkadelic.
He met bassist Bernard Edwards in 1970. They formed a rock band called The Boys (later known as the Big Apple Band) and played numerous gigs around New York City, but despite interest in their demos, they could not get a record contract when the music companies discovered they were black; the discrimination of the day said black artists couldn't play "rock".
These experiences, in addition to activist tenor of the times, led to Rodgers' active involvement in the Black Panther Party in New York City....
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