Nile Rodgers wants to release unheard Avicii collaborations: “We wrote a lot”

Nile Rodgers has said in a new interview that he wants to release several unheard collaborations that he did with Avicii.

The Chic star – who first worked with the late EDM producer on the track ‘Lay Me Down’, taken from the latter’s 2013 album ‘True’ – stopped by Swedish TV show Skavlan last week to discuss his impressive career, which stretches back to the early ’70s.

During the chat, he revealed a desire to put out some of the tracks he and Avicii worked on, provided he got the blessing of the Swedish producer’s family and estate.

Advertisement

“I love Tim. We wrote a lot,” Rodgers said. “I used to say – and I’ve said this many times – that if you put Tim and I in a room together for one week, we could write the entire Top 10. I mean, that’s how talented he was. He was a natural melody writer. Even though he didn’t read music, he didn’t understand it technically, but for some reason, spiritually and artistically, he had a gift.”

“We adored each other,” Rodgers said, before sharing why he thinks the music he and Avicii worked on has yet to be released.

“We did so much work, and I think probably the reason why the family has not put that work out – which I totally respect – is because Tim was the artist,” he explained. “And I think sometimes it’s not really fair for people to put out music that’s not sanctioned by the artist, that’s not completed by the artist, that doesn’t say: ‘OK, this is a finished piece of work.’ Because if it’s in the middle of the process, or you bring someone else in to finish it, that may be a new person’s understanding, and it feels like it’s just, maybe, taking advantage of the fact that Avicii was such a big name.”

Rodgers added: “If the family asked me, I would say OK, I was a part of this process, and all I would do is mix the record where we had it. Because I know what Tim was thinking and I know where we were. But I wouldn’t take stuff that I hadn’t been a part of and work in it.”

Avicii (real name Tim Bergling) died in 2018 after taking his own life.

Advertisement






Meanwhile, the estate of Avicii have announced that a new documentary focusing on the life and music of the late Swedish producer will be released in 2023.