Frankie Knuckles

Francis Warren Nicholls Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), known professionally as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music, a genre of music that began in Chicago during the early 1980s and subsequently spread worldwide. In 1997, Knuckles won the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical. Due to his importance in the development of the genre, Knuckles was often called "The Godfather of House Music".

Born in New York City, in the Bronx, Knuckles and his friend Larry Levan began frequenting discos as teenagers. While studying textile design at the FIT, Knuckles and Levan began working as DJs, playing soul, disco, and R&B at two of the most important early discos, The Continental Baths and The Gallery. Their DJing led them to the Loft and the Gallery, with Levan becoming the main DJ at the Continental Baths. Knuckles, initially hesitant about the Baths, eventually began playing there until its closure in 1976.

The Continental Baths, located below the Ansonia Hotel, was an opulent gay bathhouse known for its steam rooms, swimming pool, disco, and more. Levan left in 1974, later establishing the prototype for the Paradise Garage. After Levan's departure, Knuckles became the Baths' resident DJ until its closure.

In the late 1970s, Knuckles moved from New York City to Chicago, where his old friend, Robert Williams, was opening what became the nightclub called Warehouse. When the club opened in Chicago in 1977, he was invited to play on a regular basis. Knuckles accepted the offer and moved to Chicago in 1977, becoming the resident DJ at the Warehouse, situated in Chicago's west side industrial zone. Knuckles's DJ sets at the Warehouse drew in crowds of up to 2,000 people, primarily from the black and gay demographic.

In the late 1970s, as disco faced challenges, Knuckles sought ways to keep the genre alive in Chicago. He began experimenting with re-edits of songs, extending intros and breaks, and adding new beats to rejuvenate old favorites. These DJ alchemy experiments at the Warehouse laid the foundation for the emergence of house music. While the Warehouse initially faced skepticism from the wider Chicago club scene, it eventually gained recognition as adventurous straight audiences began attending. Wayne Williams, a young DJ from the south side, was among those influenced by Knuckles's music. Williams, inspired by the unique sound, introduced it to his audiences, becoming one of Chicago's most successful DJs and spreading the "house" sound beyond the gay clubs.

House music's name itself originated from the Warehouse, reflecting the exclusive, underground vibe of the club. Initially, "house" referred to an attitude and a feeling associated with cool, underground music. As Knuckles continued to reshape disco tracks and experiment with remixing, the term "house" evolved into a genre of its own.

Knuckles continued DJing at the Warehouse until November 1982, when he started his own Chicago club, The Power Plant.

Around 1983, Knuckles bought his first drum machine to enhance his mixes from Derrick May, a young DJ who regularly made the trip from Detroit to see Knuckles at the Warehouse and Ron Hardy at the Music Box, both in Chicago. The combination of bare, insistent drum machine pulses and an overlay of cult disco classics defined the sound of early Chicago house music, a sound which many local producers began to mimic in the studios by 1985.^{[citation needed]}