Duran Duran recently dropped the new song “Free to Love,” which is their latest collaboration with Chic’s Nile Rodgers.
Bassist John Taylor tells ABC Audio that Nile’s greatest contribution to the song is “this crazy kind of almost Afro, this guitar riff of his.”
“It’s one of those deceptively simple licks that Nile specializes in,” he says. “We get almost the whole song really just sitting on top of this lick of his.”
Duran Duran and Rodgers go way back, first working together in 1984, when Rodgers remixed “The Reflex,” which became the band’s first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Taylor says back then he was too young to think about how long their relationship may last.
“I just was never thinking that far ahead,” he says. “I knew that I loved Nile’s work, and that there was something very special about Chic and they were very inspirational to Duran Duran, you know, at a very early age.”
“And the first time we met Nile, we just connected,” he adds.
Duran Duran and Rodgers continued to work together over the years, with Rodgers also producing “The Wild Boys” and producing or co-producing several of the band’s albums, including 1986’s Notorious.
“He’s got an extraordinary energy about him,” Taylor says of Rodgers. “We’ve had some big moments together,” adding, “I always feel kind of safe when he’s around.”
Duran Duran will kick off a European tour on June 19 in Denmark. They are also set to headline BST Hyde Park in London on July 5. A complete list of dates can be found at DuranDuran.com.
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