The BRIT School in Croydon has named a music wing after Nile Rodgers.
The Chic star is visiting the school today (September 23). The naming of the wing is in recognition of his financial support, as well as the guidance and opportunities for students, including inviting them to perform this summer at the Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre.
More than £250,000 was raised from the viewing party Rodgers held on the night of the BRIT Awards at The Ned. The proceeds from this event were shared between The BRIT School and his own charity, We Are Family Foundation. The viewing party will return in 2020.
The school's other music wing is named after the late Sir George Martin CBE who had a long association with The BRIT School, going back to when it opened in 1991.
Rodgers said: "It is a great honour to have the music wing at the incomparable BRIT School named after me alongside Sir George Martin. I’m very proud of what Merck and I have accomplished thus far to put a spotlight on the work they do and the work of the We Are Family Foundation. With that in mind we are going to do it all over again on February 18, 2020 - BRITs Night - with the second Annual Nile Rodgers BRIT Awards Viewing Party at The Ned and hope to set new levels of support for the incredible efforts of these two worthy organisations. We’d like to thank Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), The Ned, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd, Spotify, Sony/ATV, Live Nation, CAA, The-Dream, Poo Bear, Giorgio Tuinfort, Itaal Shur, TMS and Tricky Stewart for making 2018 such a success!”
Stuart Worden, principal of The BRIT School, said: “Nile Rodgers is the sound track to our lives: funk, disco, R&B, rock, hip-hop – so many styles that have influenced so many incredible artists and he is an inspiration to every one of our students. We’re so grateful for the generosity of his time, his craft, and his financial support and that of Merck Mercuriadis for the school at this critical moment, and are honoured to dedicate an area of our music department in his name.”
Check out the latest issue for Worden's appearance in The Aftershow.
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