Chic

Perhaps the most enduringly influential unit of the disco era, Chic was primarily the brainchild of guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers, whose chicken-scratch funk guitar style remained inimitable in the decades following the group’s peak success. Along with co-founder Bernard Edwards, the NYC group—originally fronted by singer Norma Jean Wright, with support from Luci Martin, Alfa Anderson, and others—scored a round of major chart hits in the late ’70s. These included their debut single, “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah),” and their unmistakable, highly emulated No. 1s “Le Freak” and “Good Times.” During this time, Rodgers and the team influenced the sound of the era even more broadly by producing records for acts like Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. Rodgers’ imprimatur has endured in pop music over the decades through hit production and writing work for David Bowie, The B-52’s, Daft Punk (the ubiquitous “Get Lucky”), and others.