Nile Rodgers On Board As Honorary Chair of East End Arts' Spring Gala

Nile Rodgers, the legendary hitmaker who has delighted audiences twice with his music festivals at Martha Clara in Riverhead, will be back in town at the East End Arts Spring Gala.

The event, ARTworks 2016, takes place on Saturday, May 7 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at East Wind in Wading River, with Rodgers as the honorary chair of the event. He’s also slated to give the keynote address.

“As you can imagine, we are thrilled that Nile Rodgers will be the keynote speaker at this year’s EEA Gala ’Artworks,’” said East End Arts Executive Director Pat Snyder.

Rodgers will not be performing at the gala, she said.

However, earlier on the same day as the gala, Nile will be giving a master Ccass for EEA at the Suffolk Theater.

“He will be talking about songwriting, guitar and the music business. Of course, we’re thrilled about that, as well, she said. “This relationship is wonderful because East End Arts and Nile Rodgers have a shared vision that everyone has access to the arts. The first time I heardNile talk he spoke about key people in his life that supported him and made it possible for him to pursue his dream. He founded the We Are Family Foundation which speaks to his character and dedication to making the world a better place,” she said.

Snyder said East End Arts is seen as a ”key organization” vital to nurturing emerging artists, providing education and professional development.

And that’s not the only chance local residents will have to see the musician close to home: Rodgers and his team are in the planning stages for another FOLD festival this summer on the North Fork.

Rodgers began his odyssey in Riverhead and on the North Fork in 2013, when he and Chic were joined by guests Adam Lambert, Chromeo, Russell Peters, Mystery Skull, Prince Paul and Swedish star Avicii at a benefit All for the East End, an organization that raised funds for local charities, at Martha Clara Vineyards on Sound Avenue.

Last year, he had crowds back at Martha Clara and dancing for hours as he brought superstar headliners including Keith Urban, Duran Duran, Chic, Pharrell Williams, Keith Urban, and Paloma Faith to the bucolic North Fork.

Rodgers has said he’d like to bring the event to Riverhead on an annual basis.

The musical legend, who founded the band Chic, brought the world hits such as “We Are Family,” “Good Times,” “Le Freak,” “Greatest Dancer,” “I’m Coming Out,” and “Like a Virgin,” and has produced hits for Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran and Diana Ross. And, he has co-written and plays his Fender“The Hitmaker” on the new Daft Punk hit “Get Lucky,” which has broken records and gone to Number One in 73 countries.

After Bowie’s heartbreaking death recently, Rodgers penned a beautiful tribute to his longtime friend and colleague and will be paying tribute to Bowie, along with Lady Gaga, at the Grammys.

Rodgers has opened up to Patch about a cancer battle, as well as struggles in childhood that led him to become a caring adult whose mission is to give back.

Growing up in New York City, Rodgers said community programs were vital to the existence of a little boy who faced adult challenges.

“That’s what helped me to navigate through troubled waters,” he said. “My mom had me at 14 and both my parents were heroin addicts.”

Rodgers, after 9/11, began the We Are Family Foundation, to bring different people together, to learn to live together peacefully.

Charitable efforts, Rodgers said, “just feel normal to me. It’s not the thing that you do to score extra brownie points. That’s just how I was raised. I don’t know any other way.”

Despite his busy schedule, Rodgers makes time to give back. “If it’s close enough to your heart, you find a way to do it,” he said. “It becomes a part of your life; it’s just routine.”

Looking back at his long career, Rodgers reflected on the key to his success. “The great motivator was tenacity and love of doing the job,” he said. “When I was a kid, one of my most influential music teachers told me doing the work teaches you how to do the job.”

Working with a sea of new artists, Rodgers said, is fulfilling. “It’s amazing, because not only do they learn from me, I really learn a lot from them.”

From the age of five, Rodgers said he knew music was his destiny. “Even though they were heroin addicts, my mother and stepfather were artistic individuals; forward-thinking, progressive people. I was surrounded by culture and art and music. I was immersed in modern jazz. My family were the classic beatniks,” he said.

His childhood addresses ranged from the Lower East Side, “when we were doing poorly, to Greenwich Village and the West Side, when we were doing well.”

As his career propelled Rodgers into the spotlight, he was able to work both solo and collaboratively with some of the biggest names in music.

“They’re equally fulfilling, for different reasons,” he said. “When I’m working on my own, that obviously feels like a million dollars. That’s a composer’s dream, to be able to have a life where you can play your own music. However, I’m also the world’s best collaborator. I love working with people.”

Despite his huge success, for Rodgers, “work is still the most important thing. Practicing the guitar and writing songs, collaborating, exactly as I’ve done since I was a little hippie kid. It just feels right to me. Hard work is my normal life, and it’s always been that way.”