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Nile Rodgers Shocked and Perplexed over Rock Hall Honor

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Samir Hussein/WireImageIt’s a good news/bad news situation for Nile Rodgers, founder of Chic and producer of Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Diana Ross and many other artists.

The good news: Nile is going to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in conjunction with receiving the Award for Musical Excellence at the 2017 Rock Hall ceremony. The bad news: Nile’s band Chic was nominated for induction but didn’t make it in. Needless to say, Nile has mixed feelings about this.

“I never get upset when I don’t win awards because I actually expect to not win,” he tells ABC Radio. “So it was a shock when they told me that I, by myself, had won. I was like, ‘I didn’t even know you had that award!'”

Nile says the news left him “shocked” and “perplexed,” though “honored and flattered.” Still, he can’t figure out why the Rock Hall won’t induct Chic, given their accomplishments.

“We only really made hit records for two years and in that two-year span, it was extraordinary,” he tells ABC Radio. “We never had a single that wasn’t at least gold, and every one was platinum or double platinum or, in the case of ‘Le Freak,’ triple platinum. Like, who else did that?”

Nile feels it’s a general lack of knowledge about Chic’s influence and work that has led to them being passed over again and again.

“It seems like people don’t understand what we actually achieved,” he notes. 

Here are a few examples: Chic’s “Good Times” has either inspired, been sampled in or used as the basis for “Rapper’s Delight,” Blondie‘s “Rapture,” The Cure‘s “Hot! Hot! Hot!,” Queen‘s “Another One Bites the Dust” and various Daft Punk songs. Pink Floyd‘s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” was also inspired by Chic’s sound.

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