Who was the bassist and co-founder of the disco band Chic?

Bernard Edwards was the bassist and, alongside Nile Rodgers, a co-founder of the disco band Chic.

Edwards met Rodgers in New York in the early 1970s, and the two developed a musical partnership before forming Chic with drummer Tony Thompson and vocalist Norma Jean Wright. Edwards’s bass playing became one of the group’s defining sounds: melodic, tightly syncopated, and central to the dance-floor drive of songs such as “Good Times,” “Le Freak,” and “Everybody Dance.”

The answer is sometimes confused with Nile Rodgers because Rodgers was also a co-founder and became Chic’s celebrated guitarist. Tony Thompson was another important founding member, but he played drums rather than bass. Roger Taylor, meanwhile, was the bassist for the British rock band Duran Duran, not Chic.

Edwards and Rodgers also wrote and produced for other artists. Their collaborations helped create hits including Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” and “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” as well as Diana Ross’s “Upside Down.” Edwards died in Tokyo in 1996 after performing with Rodgers; the medical examiner determined that pneumonia was the cause of death.