Westporter Nile Rodgers and his Chic band have been on the annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot 11 of the past 15 years. Today that run likely came to an end—but not in a way that pleased him.
Nile Rodgers greets fans at the Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts last August. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
The funk band is not one of the inductees for the Class of 2017, announced today. But Rodgers, one of its founding members, is.
The Cleveland-based Rock Hall announced that Rodgers will receive the Award for Musical Excellence (not selected by voters) during a ceremony scheduled for April 7 in Brooklyn, N.Y
Rodgers joins Pearl Jam, Yes, Tupac Shakur, Joan Baez, Electric Light Orchestra and Journey (all voted in) as honorees.
“It’s sort of bittersweet,” Rodgers told Rolling Stone. “I’m a little perplexed because even though I’m quite flattered that they believed that I was worthy, my band Chic didn’t win.
“They plucked me out of the band and said, ‘You’re better than Chic.’ That’s wacky to me. The only reason why I met Bowie and Madonna and Duran Duran and INXS is because they all loved Chic.”
Rodgers performed last summer at the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts. In 2014, he was honored by the Westport Library at its BOOKED for the Evening event.
