Chic’s Nile Rodgers wins 2024 Polar Music Prize

Chic’s Nile Rodgers has been named Laureate for the the 2024 Polar Music Prize. He will be honored at a ceremony held May 21 in Stockholm, with the Swedish royal family in attendance.

“Dance music has been played for thousands of years. However, there are few in history, if any, who have composed dance music as sophisticated and subtly arranged as Nile Rodgers,” reads the announcement by the Polar Music Award committee. “It is fitting that his group was named Chic: elegance is part of his musical hallmark.”

“As a composer, producer and guitarist, Nile Rodgers turned disco and funk into an art form. His chop chord style of guitar playing, which he calls chucking, creates a hypnotic swing that has kept millions grooving on the dance floor,” the statement continues, noting that the songs he’s created for artists like Diana Ross, David Bowie and others “are so well-crafted that they will outlive us all.”

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by ABBA’s late manager, Stig ”Stikkan” Anderson. It honors “individuals, groups and institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements” in music. Each Laureate receives a prize equivalent to about $94,000.

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