Nile Rodgers has revealed that he once walked out of the studio while producing Madonna’s landmark 1984 album Like A Virgin, after a heated disagreement over the singer’s treatment of a studio assistant.
The Chic co-founder recalled the incident during an appearance on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, describing how a dispute over a member of the recording team nearly brought their working relationship to an abrupt end.
Asked whether he and Madonna ever argued, Rodgers replied:
Yeah, all the time.
He went on to describe what he called his favourite argument with the singer, which ended with him announcing that he was quitting the album.
Nile Rodgers stood up for studio assistant
Rodgers explained that, although he was accustomed to being treated as the boss during recording sessions, the dynamic was different when he worked with Madonna because she was paying for the album.
The disagreement began when a studio assistant left the room to use the bathroom. Madonna questioned why he had gone without asking her permission.
Rodgers recalled the exchange:
So, my favourite argument with 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.
So, one of the guys who was just an assistant was going to the bathroom, and she says, ‘uh, where’s he going? Why is he leaving the studio?’ I said, ‘oh, Madonna, he’s just going to the bathroom’.
She responded, ‘well, he didn’t ask me … if a person wants to go to the bathroom, they need to ask me before they go to the bathroom’.
The producer, now 74, was so unhappy with Madonna’s response that he immediately decided to leave the project.
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 headed out of the studio and waited for the lift, believing the collaboration was over. Madonna, however, followed him into the corridor and delivered a question that quickly changed the mood.
Madonna’s response brought Rodgers back into the studio
Rodgers remembered Madonna asking whether his decision to quit meant he no longer loved her.
So, I walked out of the studio, and I was standing there waiting for the elevator to come. And she opens the door and she goes, ‘Nile, does that mean you don’t love me anymore?’
And I started laughing, and I came back into the studio. We finished the album. It wound up being the biggest record of the year.
Despite the clash, Rodgers made it clear that he has enormous respect for Madonna and described her as one of the most focused performers he has ever worked with.
She was fantastic.
He explained that she was still at the beginning of her career when they worked together, but already had an exceptional level of determination.
Because when I worked with her, she was just starting out in her career, and she was more focused than any artist I have ever worked with.
Rodgers also dismissed attempts to encourage him to criticise the singer, saying he had no reason to speak badly of her.
When people try and get me to say bad stuff about Madonna, I go, really? Are you kidding me?
Whatever she does with people now, she never once said, ‘okay, Nile we’re finished’. I would say, okay, ‘Madonna, let’s try it again’. She’d try it again.
Madonna never questioned Rodgers’ studio decisions
The producer added that Madonna was willing to keep working on a song until he was satisfied with the performance. He said she never challenged his creative decisions, although she wanted to make sure everyone understood that she was in charge.
If I said to her 50 times, ‘I want you to do a song’, she would do it, never questioned me.
The only thing that she had was like, she wanted to let everybody know she was the boss because I was the boss.
Rodgers remembers Madonna before worldwide fame
The conversation also turned to their friendship before Madonna became one of the biggest stars in popular music.
Rodgers recalled picking her up from her apartment and taking her out around New York. He also shared a long-running disagreement about the car he used to drive.
Madonna remained convinced it was a Rolls-Royce, despite Rodgers insisting otherwise.
She was convinced it was a Rolls-Royce. And to this day, I was with her on her birthday a couple of years ago and she’s like arguing with me, telling me my car was a Rolls-Royce.
And I’m going, ‘Madonna, I’ve never owned a Rolls-Royce.’
I’ve never owned a Rolls-Royce, and it was a damn Chrysler.
Rodgers also recalled a conversation in which Madonna asked whether he found her attractive. He told her that he considered her one of the sexiest women he had ever met.
She then questioned why he had never tried to sleep with her.
And she went, ‘well, why don’t you want to f*** me then?’
And I said, ‘because I’m your producer’.
And she said, ‘that didn’t stop the rest of them’.
Rodgers’ appearance on Ruthie’s Table 4 offers a glimpse into the personalities and disagreements behind one of Madonna’s most successful records. The podcast is available wherever podcasts are streamed.
