The Evolution of Creativity was one of the first events at this year’s Leeds International Festival of Ideas (LIFI). A full house at Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry Theatre enthusiastically greeted musicians BEKA and Nile Rodgers.
BEKA, a rising pop star following her debut single, I’ll Be There, was clearly delighted to be asked to be on stage with the veteran musician. She was a positive and encouraging interviewer, although Nile Rodgers needed little encouragement to talk.

She led him through the evolution of his own development as a musician and his collaboration with others. Some people have spoken about Nile Rodgers’ early life as one of hardship and neglect. Born when his mother was only 14, he rarely saw his biological father. He has three brothers who all have different fathers. His mother married an educated white man, but given that they both became heroin addicts, the young Nile still had to fend for himself.
Rodgers, though, constantly referred to this strange upbringing as a source of strength. He emphasised his parents’ belief that he was a good kid and that he should be trusted to explore the world. He never got into trouble with the police but didn’t always follow the rules. At age seven, he skipped school for 75 days, going instead to the cinema and being educated by Fellini and Truffaut. He claimed this was one of his greatest achievements and believes he learned much more than he would in school.
He described his mother and stepfather as hippies who passed on a belief in peace, love and kindness. ‘Be kind’ came across as his personal mantra. He fondly remembered the kindness of people when he started his career as a musician on Sesame Street. Yet he is clear that being kind doesn’t mean accepting the status quo. He protested against the Vietnam War, became a subsection leader of the Black Panthers and runs the We Are Family Foundation.
The We Are Family Foundation was formed to bring people together and support children around the globe. Nile travels all around the world as part of the Foundation and for his music. The word he chose to describe himself is ‘curious’. At 72, he still wants to know more about the world. He talked about constantly making discoveries: about culture, food and people.

Music was always important to the young Nile Rodgers. From Sesame Street he went on to play as part of the house band at the Apollo Theatre. Originally, he saw himself as a classical Spanish guitarist, until he noticed that black men were not making it in this field and switched to jazz. He had been dismissive about pop until one day when he was complaining to his jazz teacher about having to play hit songs in a bar. He got the unexpected reply that top 40 records ‘speak to the souls of a million strangers.’
Nile Rodgers is probably the world’s greatest musical collaborator – initially with musical partner and co-founder of Chic, Bernard Edwards, but then with a multitude of stars. Famous names naturally appeared as he talked. How he bonded with David Bowie over a shared love of jazz and went on to fix Let’s Dance for him. How he interviewed Diana Ross for days but then persuaded her to record We’re Coming Out by telling her that it was about making a grand entrance on stage.
Early on Rodgers and Edwards wrote a whole album for Sister Sledge without ever meeting the group. It came as something as a shock to realise that Kathy Sledge was sixteen, a virgin and religious. From that moment on, he said that he made a point of getting to know the artists they would be working with. The relationships he has built have enabled him to work with artists as diverse as Duran Duran, Beyoncé, Eric Clapton and Daft Punk.
When asked by an audience member which star had made the biggest impact on him he praised Madonna. He said that no one ever worked as hard as her. He produced her hit album Like a Virgin. Her record label had lied to him about the sales figures for her first album but he said that didn’t matter because as soon as they started working together, he could see the talent.
The evening was full of wonderful tales and musical interludes, when Rodgers picked up a copy of his famous hitmaker guitar to play. He explained how many of his songs had a basis in life. Le Freak was one such song, I won’t go into detail but it is worth noting the initial letters of Freak Out. Many of these stories can be found in his autobiography Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny, which was published in 2011. The book ends with him finding out he has cancer. Since then, he has survived two bouts of cancer.
LIFI events always provide opportunities for interaction with the audience. Many audience members talked of personal reasons for coming: lifelong fans of Chic, appreciation of We’re Coming Out as a gay anthem, fellow guitarists and fellow cancer survivors. Rodgers was encouraging to creatives in the audience, saying just write: don’t worry whether it is good or bad; you can fix it later. When the final contributor talked about the coming Bradford City of Culture 2025 and needing to encourage young musicians, we were all impressed when Rodgers pulled a card from Bradford band Happy Daggers from his back pocket.
Life – like LIFI – is full of surprises.
Photographs provided by Chapter 81.