Nile Rodgers was captured on camera on Tuesday (12 July) as he danced with fans to the Chic song “Le Freak” in London’s Hyde Park.
In a video shared to social media, Rodgers can be seen dancing with a group of rollerbladers who were playing his 1978 disco hit, after he jumped out of his taxi that just so happened to be passing.
“Someone I know was rollerskating in Hyde Park,” tweeted Alex Hearn. “Nile Rodgers happened to be passing by, hopped out of his cab and started dancing with them to ‘Le Freak’, the absolute legend!”
“Beautiful,” commented one person.
“Absolute gold carat legend,” added another.
A third posted: “Godlike genius.”
At the time of its release, “Le Freak” scored number one on the disco charts for seven weeks.
Rodgers has previously said that the song was devised during New Year’s Eve 1977, as a result of him and bassist Bernard Edwards being refused entrance to the New York nightclub Studio 54. They had been invited to the venue by Grace Jones, but she had failed to notify the venue’s staff.
He said the lyrics of the refrain were originally “F***off!” rather than “Freak out!”, because that’s what the doorman had said to him when he slammed the door – but he changed the words so that the song could be played on the radio.
Rodgers was in town with Chic after performing at BST Hyde Park on Sunday (10 July), where he played his hits written for Chic, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Bowie, Daft Punk and Madonna.
He played just before Duran Duran – read The Independent’s four-star review of the band’s show here.
