With Philly Soul music pioneers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff stepping down, legendary music producer Nile Rodgers has been chosen as the new Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Rodgers, a 2016 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, is known for his work with Daft Punk, Duran Duran, Madonna, David Bowie and more.
Rodgers has also had success with his band Nile Rodgers & Chic who are prepping their first album release in 26 years according to Billboard. The album is set to release September 14.
“I am truly honored and beyond humbled to be elected by such an esteemed group as this illustrious board. I will try and serve with all my heart. I hope I can make you half as proud of me as I am to even sit in the room with you who’ve done so much for the furtherance of the composition. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve the songwriting community,” Rodgers said in a statement on his new position.
Rodgers has had plenty of success on the Billboard charts especially with his hit song “Le Freak” that held Atlantic Records Best-Selling Single for 37 years. Rodgers won three Grammy awards for his work with Daft Punk and Pharrell on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memory album which featured the single “Get Lucky.”
The Songwriters Hall of Fame President and CEO, Linda Moran, also released a statement on Rodgers new gig. “Nile is respected and admired by his fans and his peers alike for his multi/cross-genre music and for being a musical pioneer… More importantly, Nile’s eloquence in talking about songwriting and its process makes him the ideal voice for the songwriting community as Chairman of the SHOF.”
Rodgers will serve 3 years as the Chairman according to Billboard. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen two of Hip-Hop’s legends inducted including Jay-Z in 2017 who is the first rapper to be inducted and Jermaine Dupri in 2018.
