Nile Rodgers & Chic will headline the 20th annual gala for DKMS, a top non-profit organization fighting blood cancer and blood disorders. The black-tie event at will take place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on Thursday, October 15th. The evening’s programming includes a live concert from Rodgers — a cancer survivor as well as a multiple Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee — and Chic, as well as a performance by Joseph Gordon: principal dancer at New York City Ballet.
This year’s gala will highlight the uplifting journey of Ezra, an 11-year-old from California who received a life-saving stem cell transplant, and his donor, Dallas Wilson, a Nashville-based country and pop songwriter-producer who registered as a potential stem cell donor over 15 years ago while attending college.
Although Ezra was diagnosed as an infant with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), his childhood remained relatively normal until he began experiencing persistent health challenges and illnesses in the fall of 2024. A specialist consultation in December 2024 revealed that Ezra had been diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML), a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. Three weeks before his wedding, Dallas received an urgent message from DKMS informing him that he was a match for a patient in need. He immediately committed to donating and was even willing to postpone his honeymoon to ensure the lifesaving donation could take place. Ezra received his transplant from Dallas in May 2025.
