Frankie Knuckles - Tribute Page

Frankie Knuckles

The Godfather of House Music

Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles posing for a photograph

Here are some facts about Frankie Knuckles's life:

  • 1955 - The Godfather of House Music was born in Bronx, New York on January 19th.
  • A jazz record from his sister's collection was what birthed his love for music.
  • Knuckles studied textile design at The Fashion Institute of Technology and began working as a DJ playing soul, disco, and R&B at the Continental Bath and The Gallery.
  • He worked as a DJ, Record Producer and Remixer.
  • 1970 - Moved from NYC to Chicago at the Warehouse. The Warehouse was a nightclub where Knuckles played regularly, cultivated his skills and his own style.
  • House music was an abbreviation of 'Warehouse music' referring, to records Knuckles played to a crowd of mostly gay black and Latino men as the resident DJ.
  • The Warehouse was a membership only club for black gay club which later morphed into being a club for a more straight white folks to attract more revenue.
  • 1983 Knuckles obtained a drum machine and began experimenting and crafting his skills.
    The combination of bare, insistent drum machine pulses and an overlay of cult disco classics is what defined his sound of early Chicago house music.
  • He moved to the UK for 4 months and DJ-ed at DELIRIUM! a night party at Heaven nightclub in London every Thursday night.
  • 1991 - Knuckles became the first DJ to sign to a major record label and was signed to Virgin Records.
  • 1997 - First DJ to win a Grammy Award for "Remixer of the Year"
  • Remixed songs for Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan, En Vogue, and Michael Jackson.
  • 2014 - Passed away due from diabetic complications in Chicago, Illinois on March 31st.
  • 2015The Stony Island Arts Bank in South Chicago carefully preserved, cataloged and made 5,000 albums from Knuckle's record collection publicly accessible.
  • There is a foundation dedicated to the advancement Frankie Knuckles' mission as a global ambassador of house music, that continues his mission for supporting the causes he advocated for.
  • Knuckles focused on having music in schools, ending LGBTQ youth homelessness, AIDS research, prevention and diabetes research & education.

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