Let’s Dance! Nile Rodgers and Chic, Duran Duran will play BB&T
Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Nile Rodgers and the band he co-founded, Chic, are playing the Susquehanna Bank Center BB&T Pavilion with Duran Duran on Thursday July 21st. It’s billed as The Paper Gods Tour, based on the name of the album Duran Duran recently released, and the bands are doing 28 dates together. Rodgers collaborated with Duran Duran on a song that also featured Janelle Monae from the album, “Pressure Off.”
Rodgers’ career alone with Chic is plenty enough to put him in the legend category, however his work as a producer and guitarist over the years with David Bowie, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Madonna, INXS, and dozens others has solidified his place in the upper echelons of the music world. He also contributed to three songs on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, including playing guitar and co-writing the massive hit song, “Get Lucky,” with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams.
Rodgers’ and Duran Duran’s musical relationship goes back to the mid-80s, when he produced with the band, their 1986 album, Notorious, and he would with them again in 2004 on Astronaut. Chic and Duran Duran played together this past summer at the FOLD Festival, put together by Rodgers that also featured performances from Beck, Keith Urban, Q-Tip, Pharell Williams, Chaka Khan and others.
This past August, Rodgers told Billboard that a new Chic album, It’s About Time, was on its way, featuring collaborations with Chaka Khan, Elton John, Janelle Monáe & Michael McDonald.
Below, watch “Pressure Off” featuring Rodgers and Janelle Monae, and a classic from Chic.