Nile Rodgers to be honoured at the Brit School in Croydon with wing of the music school to be named after him

23 September 2019 - Press release

In recognition of funds raised by Nile Rodgers and his manager, Merck Mercuriadis, in support of young artists at the UK's leading free school for Performing and Creative Arts The BRIT School, Croydon

 

The BRIT School in Croydon is thrilled to welcome music legend Nile Rodgers back to visit The BRIT School on Monday, 23rd September 2019 at 9:00am to thank him for the incredible financial support he has made possible for the School as well as the guidance and opportunities he has given many students, which included inviting them to perform this summer at the critically acclaimed Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre.

As part of the event on Monday, The BRIT School will unveil the naming in Nile's honour of one of the Music Wings to recognise more than £250,000 raised from his Viewing Party held on the night of the BRIT Awards at The Ned this past February. The proceeds from this special event were shared between The BRIT School and his own charity, We Are Family Foundation. The other 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. 

With continued cuts to the School's annual government grant, support from such events is essential to ensure The BRIT School can continue to invest in the broad creative vocational education, which is free, for the 1,400 students who come from all social backgrounds.  

Nile's visit to The BRIT School on Monday also marks his commitment to hold his BRIT Awards Viewing Party event again next year on behalf of both charities. This special event will be held on 18th February 2020, the same night as The BRIT Awards – itself a charitable event which raises funds for its music industry charity – The BRIT Trust (The BRIT School's principal sponsor) – for distribution to a number of charities that promote education and well-being through music. 

Nile 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 2nd 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!"

The BRIT School was set up in 1991 and remains the only non-fee paying secondary school in the UK delivering specialised performing arts training in the UK. Since then, over 9,000 students have passed through its doors, including musicians and singers ranging from Adele, Katie Melua to Jessie J, Ella Eyre and Loyle Carner and more recently in 2019 hot picks Freya Ridings, Jade Bird, black midi and Octavian; to actors such as Tom Holland (Spiderman), Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife, The Good Fight) and Ashley Thomas (24:Legacy). 

Stuart Worden, Principal of The BRIT School, said, "Nile Rodgers is the sound track to our lives: funk, disco, R'n'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."