Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing to Honor Nile Rodgers

A studio giant is getting his due, and then some, at the GRAMMY Awards in February.

The legendary Nile Rodgers is about to add another accolade to his portfolio. (Photo Courtesy of The Recording Academy /Wireimage.com © 2014
Photographed by: Dan MacMedan)

The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing (also known as the P&E Wing) will celebrate its eighth annual GRAMMY Week event, this time by honoring three-time GRAMMY winning producer and artist Nile Rodgers for his commitment to excellence and ongoing support for the art and craft of recorded music.

Michael Ostin and Cameron Strang will serve as honorary event co-chairs at the event, which will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles.

GRAMMY Week culminates with the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, airing live on at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

“Our Producers & Engineers Wing members are passionate about sound quality, the importance of music creators, and most of all, the integrity of recorded music,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “This year, it is with great pride that we honor a musical icon who is the epitome of everything the P&E Wing represents. Nile Rodgers is not only a revered member of the music community but also a founding member of the Wing and we look forward to celebrating his astonishing career, which continues to reach new musical heights and inspire generations.”

Made up of more than 6,000 professionals, The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing was established for producers, engineers, remixers, manufacturers, technologists, and other related creative and technical professionals in the recording field. The P&E Wing serves an organized voice for the recording community, addressing issues that affect the craft of recorded music, including the development and implementation of new technologies, technical guidelines and recommendations, and archiving and preservation initiatives.

Without question, Rodgers has it coming – get your head around this increedible resume:

A musician, composer, arranger and guitarist, Rodgers’ influence as a producer looms huge over the musical landscape. His career kicked off as a session guitarist in New York, first touring as a teenager with the “Sesame Street” band, then moving forward to play with the house band at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater.

In 1970 Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards met and formed the Big Apple Band. In 1977 the band changed their name to Chic, leading to massive hits including “Le Freak,” “I Want Your Love,” “Everybody Dance,” and “Good Times.” Chic’s success soon led to producing opportunities for Rodgers and Edwards, among them albums such as Sister Sledge’s We Are Family and Diana Ross’s Diana.

Chic broke up in 1983, but Rodgers was just getting started. Next, he started on a solo production career that gave rise to hits for elite artists including David Bowie, INXS, Duran Duran, Madonna, Sheena Easton, Jeff Beck, the Thompson Twins, Mick Jagger, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Howard Jones, the B-52’s, and Al Jarreau, among others.

His film soundtrack work from that period includes such movies as Alphabet City, Gremlins, Against All Odds, That’s Dancing, White Nights, The Fly, White Hot, and Earth Girls Are Easy, in addition to collaborating with Peter Gabriel on Laurie Anderson’s concert film Home Of The Brave. In 1988 Rodgers composed his first orchestral score for the film Coming To America.

In the ’90s Rodgers produced the Vaughan Brothers Family Style, which was released shortly after the untimely death of guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with projects for Bowie, Eric Clapton, the B-52s, David Lee Roth, Ric Ocasek, Dan Reed Network, Cathy Dennis, Patty Griffin, Jimmie Vaughan, and The Stray Cats among others, along with continued soundtrack work on films such as Thelma and Louise, Cool World and Beavis And Butt-Head.

In 1992, Rodgers and Edwards revisited Chic’s roots and released a new album, Chic-Ism. In 1996 tragedy struck when, during a series of Chic concerts in Japan, Edwards contracted pneumonia and died, a blow that greatly affected Rodgers. Although devastated by the loss of his longtime musical partner and close friend, Rodgers ultimately regrouped and returned to playing live concerts and composing and producing music for film soundtracks including work on Beverly Hills Cop III, Blue Chips, The Flintstones, and Feeling Minnesota (including a collaboration with Bob Dylan).

In 1998 Rodgers founded the Sumthing Else Music Works record label and Sumthing Distribution, an independent music label distributor. The label focused on video game soundtracks, releasing titles such as the complete Halo and Resident Evil franchises including Gears of War and Borderlands. During this time, Rodgers focused on additional soundtrack projects such as Rush Hour 2, Snow Dogs and Semi-Pro. In 2002-2003 he co-produced Astronaut, with the original five members of Duran Duran.

Prompted by the Sept.11 tragedies, Rodgers created the We Are Family Foundation to help promote the healing process and organized a rerecording of “We Are Family,” the GRAMMY Hall of Fame®-inducted song he and Edwards wrote for Sister Sledge. The rerecording was performed by more than 200 musicians, celebrities, and personalities and included a music video filmed by Spike Lee, a documentary filmed by Danny Schechter and a video version for kids that included more than 100 beloved children’s characters. Rodgers has been recognized for his humanitarian efforts as well as music achievements by being honored with innumerable awards, among them The Recording Academy’s NY Chapter’s Heroes Award, induction into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, No. 1 Singles Producer In The World by Billboard, and the Winter Music Conference Lifetime Achievement award.

Rodger’s career has seen a strong resurgence in the electronic dance community through his work with such acts as Avicii, Disclosure and Tensnake. His collaboration with Daft Punk on their album Random Access Memories garnered him three GRAMMY Awards for 2013 including Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year.

Rodgers continues to tour worldwide and remains one of the most in-demand producers and artists of his time – most deservedly so.

As the Producers & Engineers Wing 2015 honoree, Rodgers joins a distinguished group of past honorees which includes Chris Blackwell; T Bone Burnett; Tom Dowd; Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun; Jimmy Iovine; Quincy Jones; Arif Mardin; Al Schmitt; Jerry Wexler; and Neil Young.

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