Four years ago Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis did a Q&A at the Grammy Museum. Friday (2/3) Rodgers, Mercuriadis, and all-star producer The Dream were at the Grammy Museum just the day before Rodgers received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Rodgers co-founded legendary Disco/Funk group Chic and on top of that has worked with a number of icons like Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Diana Ross, Daft Punk, Sister Sledge, The B-52s and many others as a producer/writer/musician. As a manager Mercuriadis clients past and present include Rodgers, Ann Wilson, Elton John, Beyonce, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Mary J. Blige and more. Mercuriadis and Rodgers founded the Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2018 and since then as acquired the catalogs of Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Soundgarden, Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, Shakira, half of Neil Young’s, Jimmy Iovine’s Producer Royalties, and songs from more than 300 artists, bands, and musicians. The Dream has had 19 Grammy nominations and seven wins including two at the 65th Grammys this past weekend. The Dream’s first Grammy nomination was as a songwriter for Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and since then has had wins as a producer and or songwriter for Beyonce, Megan Thee Stallion, and Kayne West. As a solo artist The Dream has released seven albums.
All week long the Grammy Museum hosted events leading up to Grammy Weekend and this was certainly the biggest. The theme of the of the Q&A was the next generation and education and also how all three came to where they are today. At the end the audience had the opportunity to ask a few questions and one in particular for The Dream was writing songs for different artists and making them unique to each. One great story from Rodgers was his start in the Sesame Street touring band but how he had crazy hair back then and could’ve been in the show's cast. Mercuriadis led the Q&A but also gave important insight into the music industry.
