knuckles

house music pioneer Frankie Knuckles, RIP

Frankie

Details are scarce at this point but 5 Chicago is reporting that house music pioneer Frankie Knuckles has died at age 59, with corroboration from his [90s Def Mix Productions partner David Morales. Though born in The Bronx, it was when Frankie began DJing at The Warehouse in Chicago that a new dance music style was born. From Bob Stanley’s Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop:

As disco died out completely and R&B slowed down, Frankie Knuckles started to play reel-to-reel re-edits of old disco records, extending them with the help of a Rhythm Master (the box built into most electric organs to help the suburban Reginald Dixon keep time). A local record store called Imports Etc started to label records with an ‘as played at the Warehouse’ sticker, which was soon pared back to ‘the ‘House’, and a new genre had been tagged.

Sad, sad news. Frankie, you changed the sound of dance music forever and will be missed. Stream his classic 1987 single “Your Love” below…