Bernard Edwards

Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bassist known primarily for his work in disco with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the 53rd greatest bassist of all time by Bass Player magazine.

Edwards was born in Greenville, North Carolina, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he met Nile Rodgers in the early 1970s. At the time, Edwards was working at a post office with the mother of Rodgers's girlfriend. The two formed the Big Apple Band (active 1972–1976) and then united with drummer Tony Thompson to eventually form Chic together with singer Norma Jean Wright.

With Chic (active 1976–1983), Edwards created era-defining hits such as "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Everybody Dance", "Le Freak", "I Want Your Love" and "Good Times". Edwards also worked with Nile Rodgers to produce and write for other artists, using Chic to perform everything musically and vocally except lead vocals. Those productions with Norma Jean Wright, Sister Sledge, Sheila and B. Devotion, Diana Ross, Johnny Mathis, Debbie Harry and Fonzi Thornton led to more hits such as "Saturday", "He's The Greatest Dancer", "We Are Family", "Spacer", "Upside Down", "I'm Coming Out" and "Backfired". In the song "We Are Family," Kathy Sledge gives Edwards a brief shout-out, singing "Yeah, come on Bernard, play…play your funky bass, boy!". As a lone songwriter/producer, he gave Diana Ross her Top 15 hit, "Telephone" from her 1985 platinum "Swept Away" album released on RCA and Ross' international label, Capitol-EMI.

Edwards released a solo album, Glad to Be Here in 1983, and in 1985 he was instrumental in the formation of the supergroup the Power Station. The band's first album was produced by Edwards and featured Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John and Andy Taylor as well as singer Robert Palmer. Edwards followed this by producing Robert Palmer's hit album Riptide. He continued to produce artists throughout the 1980s and 90s, including Diana Ross, Adam Ant, Rod Stewart, Jody Watley, Grayson Hugh, Air Supply, ABC and Duran Duran.

Edwards was the father of multi-platinum record producer Bernard "Focus…" Edwards, Jr. who has produced songs for Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Busta Rhymes, Bishop Lamont, Tony Yayo and more.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.