Nile Rodgers talks about Bernard Edwards death

[Marcio**]

It was on the third night of the stint that Bernard Edwards developed a dangerously high fever before the show, and refused doctors' orders to cancel the gig.

"I said to 'Nard, 'Hey, man, we can cancel.' But the show must go on, and he said, 'Absolutely not.' What's so sad is it was all documented on Japanese television. I can see the tape and just watch him deteriorate." By the time Chic took an intermission mid-set, Edwards had already passed out onstage once, but insisted on finishing the show.

"I knew something was wrong when we got to 'Chic Cheer' and his solo wasn't slammin'," Rodgers says. "And when it was time for him to introduce himself, he just talked about me and how much he loved [playing with] me."

Rodgers recalls being knocked out of bed at 1:33 a.m. by what he thought was an earthquake. "It wasn't an earthquake, but I didn't know that. All of a sudden, I was on the floor and I felt really lonely. I was awakened by a dream that I was alone on the earth and all my friends and family were flying through me to heaven.

"The next morning, I went to 'Nard's room to wake him up, and he wouldn't answer the door," Rodgers continues. "So I got housekeeping to open his door and I saw him lying on the couch. I could tell he was dead by the way his feet looked. I touched his cheek and it was the same temperature as the coffee table, and I just broke down. When the medical examiner came, he estimated the time of death at around 1 a.m. I said, '1:33,' and without asking, he wrote down '1:33.' I'm not a religious guy, but when all of this happened, it was real clarity for me."

The most shocking part of Bernard Edwards' death -- both to Rodgers and the music world -- was that it happened without warning. Edwards wasn't terminally ill, stricken with AIDS or a victim of drug use. He simply contracted a deadly strain of pneumonia and died almost instantly.

"The whole experience really woke me up," says Rodgers. "I never thought I could put out another record or tour as Chic. We were Chic. But I just remember Bernard looking out at the crowd the night he died and saying to me, 'We did it. The music is bigger than us.'"





"THE CHIC MYSTIQUE"

[jam master jay]

Thank you for sharing that. The Chic sound will always be one of the most distinctive sounds of the disco era. Bernard Edwards was largely responsible for that.

[Jimmy-Michaels]

That is a very sad story, and well it also shows that anyone can go at anytime. Chic will always be one of my fave funk and soul groups and the music will live on forever.