Willie Nile (born Robert Noonan; June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980, Nile released his self-titled debut album. His early career was interrupted by various problems, but he eventually returned to recording and performing in the US and Europe, establishing himself as a singer-songwriter.

Early life

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, into what he called "a gregarious

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

family". He grew up with two older brothers who played piano, and a mother who "used to always have music in the house. Whether it was classical or

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

or popular hits of the times, something was always playing." His grandfather ran an orchestra in Buffalo and was a vaudeville pianist who played with

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...

and

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences ...

. Nile studied philosophy at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

and lived in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

while beginning his music career. He contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

and wrote songs while he spent a year recuperating. Afterward, he began frequenting such clubs as

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, where he saw performers including

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United St ...

, and

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

Career

Early years

Nile established residency at Kenny's Castaways, a Greenwich Village club, where he was discovered by

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

music critic Robert Palmer who described Nile as "the most gifted songwriter to emerge from the New York folk scene in some while". This led to a meeting with

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 19 ...

and a record deal with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

. He went into the studio with a band that included Jay Dee Daugherty from the Patti Smith Group and Fred Smith from

. He was described by Stephen Holden of the ''New York Times'' as a "live wire" in concerts. Following the release of his debut album, '' Willie Nile'', he joined The Who's 1980 summer tour. After his second album 1981's '' Golden Down'', Nile became involved with protracted legal problems which curtailed his career for a number of years.

Re-emergence

Although he continued to write, Nile did not perform live or record again until a 1987 performance in

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

, with

Eric Andersen Eric Andersen (born February 14, 1943) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead and many others. Early in his career, in the 1960s, he ...

. A videotape of Nile's performance in Norway prompted a

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

talent scout to sign him to the label in 1988. For reasons that are unclear, production on his album didn't start for two more years. It was another significant delay in the troubadour's career. Issued in 1991, His

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

CD ''

Places I Have Never Been ''Places I Have Never Been'' is an album by the American musician Willie Nile, released in 1991. It was Nile's first album in 10 years, as legal and personal issues prevented him from putting out music. Nile supported the album with a North Americ ...

'' contained the songs "Everybody Needs A Hammer" and "Heaven Help The Lonely." ''Places I Have Never Been'' featured appearances by backing musicians including Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III,

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...

, and members of

the Hooters The Hooters are an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band combines elements of rock, reggae, ska, and folk music to create its sound. The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-198 ...

and

the Roches The Roches were an American vocal trio of sisters Maggie, Terre and Suzzy Roche, from Park Ridge, New Jersey. Career In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21, 2017) and middle sister Terre (pronounced "Terry" ...

. On June 11, 1991, Nile was the guest musician on the

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production compa ...

show. Nile has recorded and performed with several musicians, including

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

, Ian Hunter, and

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached ...

. A live

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

concert album, ''Willie Nile-Archive Alive'', was released on Archive Recordings, and Nile was one of the vocalists on the 1998 ensemble album ''Largo'', along with Joan Osborne,

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

. Another project found Nile writing and performing most of the songs for the soundtrack to the Kevin McLaughlin film ''Pinch Me!''. Gathering together his resources over time, he put out his first self-released album, '' Beautiful Wreck of the World'', in 1999. It was chosen as one of the Top Ten Albums of the Year by critics at Billboard Magazine, The Village Voice and Stereo Review. Lucinda Williams called "On the Road to Calvary," Nile's song for

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

, "One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard." The album reached the finals of the Independent Music Awards for Best Rock Album of the Year.

21st-century renaissance

In the fall of 2003, Nile was invited to share the stage at three concerts with the E Street Band, including the two final

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted spo ...

shows as well as the two last shows of that particular tour at Shea Stadium. In 2006, Nile released '' Streets of New York'', which some may consider to be his best work to date, due to its production and songwriting. Former ''Time'' magazine music critic and Academy Award-winning screenwriter

Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.Dion. This record is a head-twister and heart-wrencher. It's rock and roll at its best. It's New York at its best. And there's nothing better than that." ''

House of a Thousand Guitars ''House of a Thousand Guitars'' (2009) is the sixth studio album by singer/songwriter Willie Nile, comprising a mixture of piano ballads and classic guitar rock. The album is dedicated to the memory of Nile’s brother John. Track listing # "H ...

'' was released to positive reviews on April 14, 2009. On November 22, 2009, Nile joined the E Street Band for the cover of

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

's "Higher and Higher". On April 23, 2013, at a ceremony in Leeds, UK, Nile was named Legacy Ambassador for the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. On June 25, 2013, Nile releases his eighth full-length studio album, '' American Ride'' through Loud & Proud Records. Nile originally had planned on self-distributing through money raised on PledgeMusic.com. The decision to sign onto a record label occurred after he was approached by Tom Lipsky, president of Loud & Proud Records. On November 11, 2014, Nile released '' If I Was a River'', a 10-track all piano album, composed by Nile with assistance from his long-time collaborator Frankie Lee. At a surprise appearance at the 2015 Light of Day Benefit in Asbury Park, New Jersey,

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

joined Nile on stage to perform Nile's "One Guitar". On May 28, 2015, at the Best Buy Theatre in New York City, Nile joined Springsteen,

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

and

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

at the 11th annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert to honor

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Towns ...

for his commitment to helping other musicians with addictions. On July 27, 2018, Nile released the album ''Children of Paradise''. The album was well received and given excellent reviews. Associated Press' Kiley Armstrong says it is "his best album to date". In a July 2018 review of the album Audiophilie says "Willie Nile has a lot to say and clearly some great songs in his back pocket. You just need to listen. If you have even a bit of conscience remaining, you should listen to Willie's albums of the last 10 years or so. You might just get inspired by his 21st century renaissance". On March 15, 2020, Nile released his 13th studio album, '' New York at Night''. Nile described it as "throwing another long on the fire", defining his passion for his music. Along with the title track, the album includes the previously released "Run Free", "New York is Rockin'" which he co-wrote with Curtis Stigers for Stigers' 1995 album ''Time Was'', "Surrender the Moon", a song he started with his brother John, who died years ago, and reflections on love; "A Little Bit of Love", "The Last Time We Made Love", and "Downtown Girl".''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' magazine rated the album 3½ of 5 stars and said that Nile belongs in a class of New York songwriters with Dion.

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades ...

, Garland Jeffreys,

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United St ...

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial suc ...

and others. Giving the album an 88/100 rating, '' Elmore Magazine'' says "Jersey has Bruce Springsteen, but New York has Willie Nile". In 2022, Nile's 2006 album Streets of New York was chosen "Classic American Album" by David Jarman of ''Americana-UK''.

Band members

;Current members * Jimi K. Bones – guitar * Johnny Pisano – electric and upright bass, backing vocals *Jon Webber – drums ;Former members *Brad Albetta – electric & acoustic Bass * Matt Hogan – lead guitar * Alex Alexander – drums, percussion * Clay Barnes – guitars * Jay Dee Daugherty – drums and percussion * Peter Hoffman – guitars *Rich Pagano – drums, percussion, background vocals * Fred Smith – bass * Andy York – lead guitar, background vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Other releases

Other appearances

Awards

*1980 Sterio Review Magazine - '' Willie Nile'' - Record of the Year *2005 Nile was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. *2013 Winner - AIM Independent Music Awards: "One Guitar" – Best Social Action Song *2013 Nominee - AIM Independent Music Awards: "The Innocent Ones" - Best Album Rock/Hard Rock *2014 Nominee - AIM Independent Music Awards: "American Ride" - Best Album Rock/Hard Rock *2018 Nominee - AIM Independent Music Awards: "Earth Blues" - Best Social Action Short Form Music Video

References

External links

Willie Nile Official Website
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nile, Willie 1948 births Living people American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters American rock pianists American male pianists American alternative rock musicians American people of Irish descent University at Buffalo alumni Musicians from Buffalo, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state) People from Greenwich Village 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians