Nile Rodgers wants fans to dance the night away on latest CHIC tour

The year 1977 was a pivotal point in the history of dance music. It was the year that the glitzy celebrity hot spot and discotheque central Studio 54 was opened in New York City at the same time that disco funk act CHIC released their wildly successful self-titled debut that produced iconic dance floor hits like “Everybody Dance.”

Forty years later, the tandem anniversaries are celebrated in the new “2054 The Tour” (stopping at United Center July 26) that joins CHIC with Chicago’s own seminal R&B groove act Earth Wind & Fire — the first time the two have ever officially toured together. The name of the mega tour explores what Studio 54 could be like in this century; as such, each of the arenas they visit over the next two months will feature a special seating configuration along with a DJ between sets that beckons people back onto a huge dance floor.

“It’s a symbolic year and a great tour loaded with lots of symbolism, and you know Earth Wind & Fire is all about that,” jokes CHIC cofounder and producer extraordinaire Nile Rodgers in a recent chat. “When you see the set and how we are approaching the show it’s pretty over the top and spectacular.”

Rodgers sees the irony of holding a show like the “2054 The Tour” in the city that once famously hosted a Disco Demolition Night at the old Comiskey Park in 1979, but glibly says, “We’re not scarred by it … and think it’s pretty awesome we get to have a big dance party again.”

As one of Rolling Stone’s “50 most important people in EDM,” Rodgers has always been an integral cog in the dance music machine, ensuring its visibility in a crowded music marketplace. Beyond his work with CHIC, he has been a Top 40 producer working with Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Bryan Ferry, and David Bowie in his formative years, to currently booking studio time with Avicii, Disclosure and Kylie Minogue. Of course he’s also regarded for his co-writing credits on several Daft Punk songs like “Get Lucky” (with Pharrell Williams) that have pushed Rodgers forward into a new millennia.

Though CHIC hasn’t released a new album since 1992’s “CHIC-ism,” Rodgers promises that 2017 is it, with the “2054 Tour” the first time that many will be able to hear the new tracks. “This is definitely the year,” he says for the much-anticipated release of the appropriately-named “It’s About Time,” which is tentatively slated to feature collaborations with Lady Gaga and the late George Michael, whom Rodgers worked with just the day before the singer unexpectedly passed away last December.

Michael was just one of the personal losses Rodgers experienced in the past 18 months, also saying goodbye to close friends and colleagues like Bowie, Prince and Natalie Cole. The devastating toll made him pause and rethink “It’s About Time” on several occasions, delaying its release out of respect and recently also deciding to take out a song called “Prince Said It” from the album.

“I still feel really strongly about that,” Rodgers says. “It’s so hard to talk about because the track wasn’t supposed to be an homage to Prince, but a fun song about the conversations I have had with him. It seems so odd to put out this song that’s fun and up-tempo. … Also because CHIC is a really happy band, that’s what we are about. It’s about reinforcing that consciousness of happiness even in bad times.”

He continues, “When Bowie died and Prince died, it was just too much for me. But now I’ve had enough time to get over my emotions and to reorganize the record. I’m committed to it.”

At a recent set at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival, Rodgers also got frank with the crowd, telling them how lucky he was to be cancer-free after a six-year period. Though his doctor told him at that time to “get his affairs in order,” today Rodgers has a new lease on life and is happy to be putting the emphasis on his music affairs instead, focusing on the new album and tour and the important anniversaries showing just how far he — and dance music — have come.

In the 75-minute set, he says, “We play the very first song I ever wrote for CHIC, ‘Everybody Dance,’ and then work our way up to the present with a bombardment of hits because that’s what my career has been like and I’m fortunate for that.”

Selena Fragassi is a local freelance writer.