Nile Rodgers Music Keynote at the 2017 SXSW Conference [Video]

"My first real job was Sesame Street. I auditioned, they wanted a kid who could read the music, "Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?" and "Rubber Ducky" and that sort of thing, and I went in there and read the charts and clean as a whistle got the gig, and that set me off on this journey of discovery."

Among music legends, Nile Rodgers is truly exceptional. He amplifies his legacy as a multiple Grammy Award-winning composer, producer, arranger, and guitarist. As a cultural icon and music innovator with more than 200 production credits to his name, Nile Rodgers transcends all styles of music across every generation. Additionally, Rodgers, as the co-founder of CHIC, pioneered a musical language that sparked the advent of hip-hop with "Good Times," distinguished CHIC as the "most sampled band in history" (The Guardian, 2011), won CHIC 11 ​Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations, and generated ground breaking pop hits like "Le Freak," which was inducted into the 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame. His career-defining productions for David Bowie (Let's Dance), Madonna (Like A Virgin), Diana Ross (diana), and Sister Sledge (We Are Family), plus his work with artists like Duran Duran, INXS, Mick Jagger, Grace Jones, Steve Winwood, Peter Gabriel, The B-52s, Bryan Ferry and Michael Jackson, have sold more than 200 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide while his innovative, trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Christina Aguilera, Avicii, Disclosure and Sam Smith reflect the vanguard of contemporary music.

Watch the video above for the full 2017 SXSW Conference Keynote Session with Nile Rodgers. Get inspired by a multitude of diverse visionaries at SXSW – browse more 2017 Keynotes, Featured Sessions, Red Carpets, and Q&A’s on our YouTube Channel.

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2017 SXSW Conference Speaker, Nile Rodgers - Photo by Jay Nicholas