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Bernard Edwards

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Bernard Edwards was born in 1952 in Greenville, North Carolina, and grew up in Brooklyn. In the early 1970s he met the guitarist Nile Rodgers. Together they played in The Big Apple Band, and with the drummer Tony Thompson they then founded Chic. Edwards played bass and wrote and produced everything together with Rodgers.

Music and breakthrough

In the late 1970s Chic made hits such as Dance, Dance, Dance, Everybody Dance, Le Freak, I Want Your Love and Good Times. Edwards and Rodgers also wrote and produced for others, with the Chic musicians playing everything except the lead vocals. That is how We Are Family and He's the Greatest Dancer by Sister Sledge and Upside Down and I'm Coming Out by Diana Ross came about. In We Are Family the singer Kathy Sledge even calls out to him to play his funky bass. Later Edwards produced the supergroup The Power Station, Robert Palmer's album Riptide and work by Rod Stewart and Duran Duran.

Influence

Edwards played tight, melodic bass lines that were just as important as the melody. His bass line from Good Times became one of the most copied pieces of music ever. It was the basis of Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang from 1979, the first rap record to become a big hit, and inspired Another One Bites the Dust by Queen. In 1996 he died in Tokyo of pneumonia, just after a concert with Rodgers. His groove lives on in disco, funk and hip hop.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Le Freak by Chic. Notice Bernard Edwards's bass, which bounces melodically beneath Nile Rodgers's short, rhythmic guitar playing. Together they form the groove on which the whole song floats.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists