

Nile Rodgers & Daft Punk

Last year was trying for my health and a number of colleagues passed away. Maybe, it was poetic to end 2012 in Japan? There are so many memories there for me, both happy and sad, but it always strengthens me to visit. It's the place where my long time partner, bassist extraordinaire Bernard Edwards, passed away in April 1996. It's also the place where my band performed in April 2011, in the aftermath of the triply devastating earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi - one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

Although April in Japan is bittersweet, the people dependably reinforce the sweet. I'm always assured of an audience that loves to celebrate, party, and have a genuine good time with me. They allow us to play anything from my repertoire, and indulge my every artistic whim.

The next time we return, I want to do something extra special, because people always pull me aside and request songs that I thought just a handful of people knew. In a world of lower proportionate record sales (compared to my multi-platinum heyday when the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond award plateaus were double), our last studio album CHIC-ism, sold around 400,000 units in April 1992 - a respectable number by today's standards.

The next time I set foot in Japan, my collaboration with Daft Punk would have started to hit people's eardrums, as well as a number of songs I'm working on over the next few months with a select group of artists, and of course finally, my lost CHIC and solo material. No matter how it ends, 2013 Won't Be Boring!