Nile Rodgers has revealed that seeing Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music in the 1970s helped inspire the creation and identity of Chic, while announcing that the pair have recorded five new songs together.
by Paul Cashmere
Nile Rodgers has revisited the origins of Chic and his long creative relationship with Bryan Ferry in a social media post, revealing that a 1970s encounter with Roxy Music helped shape the concept behind one of the most influential groups in dance music. Rodgers also announced that he and Ferry have recorded five new songs, bringing together two artists whose work has intersected periodically across four decades.
Rodgers wrote that he saw Roxy Music performing in the 1970s and was struck not only by the music but by the band’s carefully constructed visual identity. After seeing the musicians dressed in couture clothing, Rodgers said he told his musical partner Bernard Edwards that they needed to create a black counterpart to what he had witnessed with Roxy Music.
“Hence our group CHIC was born,” Rodgers wrote. He also described Ferry as a lasting musical influence, adding, “Bryan will forever be my hero. He was my muse.”
The post concluded with the immediate news that the two musicians had spent the day recording together. “We cut 5 new songs today!” Rodgers wrote.
The story places fashion and visual presentation alongside music in the formation of Chic. Rodgers and Edwards were developing their own musical identity in New York during the 1970s, having worked together in the Big Apple Band before forming Chic in 1976.
Rodgers’ recollection centres on his experience seeing Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry in London. Roxy Music had established an unusually sophisticated visual presentation for a rock group, combining music, fashion and imagery into a deliberately constructed aesthetic.
For Rodgers, that presentation suggested a different way of approaching a band. Rather than separating the music from the image, Chic could build its own identity around both. Rodgers’ description of creating the “black version” of what he had seen with Roxy Music became part of the mythology surrounding Chic’s beginnings.
Chic subsequently developed a highly recognisable visual and musical identity, with Rodgers and Edwards combining sophisticated arrangements, tightly constructed rhythm sections and dancefloor-focused production.
The partnership between Rodgers and Edwards became one of the defining creative forces of the disco era. Chic’s catalogue included “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)”, “Everybody Dance”, “Le Freak”, “I Want Your Love” and “Good Times”. Rodgers and Edwards also extended their songwriting and production work beyond Chic. Noise11 has previously documented their work on major recordings by Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and other artists.
Their influence reached well beyond the group’s own records. Rodgers’ production and songwriting credits include Diana Ross’ “Upside Down”, Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family”, David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and Duran Duran’s “The Reflex”. Rodgers also produced INXS’ “Original Sin”, giving the Australian band an important international breakthrough.
Chic’s work continued to provide the foundation for later generations of dance and pop musicians. “Good Times” became particularly significant through its interpolation and sampling history, while Rodgers’ guitar style remained recognisable across productions separated by decades.
Rodgers and Ferry have also maintained a working relationship independent of the original Roxy Music connection.
Rodgers contributed guitar to Ferry’s 1985 album Boys And Girls, which included “Don’t Stop The Dance”. The musicians later worked together on Ferry’s Olympia in 2010, followed by another collaboration on Avonmore in 2014, where Rodgers contributed guitar alongside a roster that included Johnny Marr.
The collaborations represent a creative relationship that began with Rodgers being influenced by Ferry’s presentation and later developed into direct musical work.
Ferry’s own influence extends beyond Roxy Music’s recordings. His approach to combining music, fashion and art helped establish a model for the sophisticated presentation of rock performers during the 1970s, while his solo career continued that aesthetic into subsequent decades. Noise11 has previously spoken with Ferry about his Roxy Music catalogue and his approach to balancing established material with less familiar songs in his live work.
Rodgers’ announcement of five new recordings is the immediate development from the latest meeting between the two musicians. No titles, release date, label or further details about the recordings have been announced in the supplied material.
The recordings nevertheless represent a continuation of a relationship that has moved from inspiration to collaboration. Rodgers’ recollection of first seeing Roxy Music provides a direct link between Ferry’s influence on the formation of Chic and their subsequent work together.
Chic’s legacy has also continued through Rodgers’ live performances and recordings. Noise11 has previously documented how Rodgers’ concerts incorporate Chic material alongside songs he created or produced for other artists, reflecting the breadth of his songwriting and production catalogue.
For now, the five new songs remain unreleased. Rodgers’ post establishes only that the recordings have been completed, leaving their titles, contributors and eventual release plans to be confirmed.
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