Nile Rodgers reveals why he walked out of a recording session with Madonna
Despite the disagreement, Rodgers was full of praise for Madonna, describing her as “more focused than any artist I have ever worked with"
By Aaron Sugg
Nile Rodgers has recalled the time he walked out of a recording session with Madonna after becoming frustrated with the way she treated a member of staff.
Speaking on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, the Chic musician shared the story while discussing his experience of working with the Confessions II singer early in her career.
Asked by host Ruthie Rogers whether he had ever argued with Madonna, Rodgers replied: “Yeah, all the time.”
He then described one particular disagreement, which began when a studio assistant left the room to go to the bathroom.
Nile Rodgers makes claims about Madonna
“Everybody at the recording studio treated me like the boss because I just went from record to record to record to record to record. But now this was her record and she was paying,” he explained.
Rodgers recalled Madonna asking where the assistant was going and insisting that staff should ask her permission before leaving.
“I said, ‘You know what, Madonna, I quit. You can’t treat people like that. These people are all here working on your behalf. They all care about you, and you just can’t treat people like that’.”
Rodgers said he walked out of the studio and waited for the lift, but Madonna soon followed him. After she allegedly asked whether he didn’t love her any more, he began laughing and returned to the studio.
“We finished the album. It wound up being the biggest record of the year,” he said.
Rodgers praises Madonna’s work ethic
The pair were working on Madonna’s second studio album, Like a Virgin, released in 1984 and produced by Rodgers.
Despite the disagreement, Rodgers was full of praise for Madonna, describing her as “more focused than any artist I have ever worked with”.
“When people try and get me to say bad stuff about Madonna, I go, really? Are you kidding me?” he said.
He added: “If I said to her 50 times, ‘I want you to do a song’, she would do it, never questioned me.”
Rogers has not worked on a Madonna album since the release of Like a Virgin, but they have remained friends and have reunited over the years.