Subgenres
Chicago House Artists
Where it started. Drum machines, disco loops and the Warehouse, the Music Box, Trax and DJ International.
01
The story
What is chicago house?
House music was born in Chicago in the early 1980s. DJs Frankie Knuckles (the Warehouse) and Ron Hardy (the Music Box) played the records, and local producers started making their own with cheap drum machines and synths.
Labels like Trax and DJ International put them out. Within a few years Chicago house had produced the first house record, the first acid record, the first deep house records and the first anthems.
How it sounds
- Roland TR-808/909 drums
- Raw, jacking grooves
- Pianos and gospel vocals on one side, acid and machines on the other
- Usually about 118–125 BPM
02
Listen
Start here
- On and On
- Your Love
- Move Your Body
- Can You Feel It
03
Artists
Chicago House artists to know
Frankie Knuckles
The Godfather of House. A Bronx kid who moved to Chicago in 1977, played the Warehouse, and gave the music its name.
Ron Hardy
The wild one. Resident at Chicago’s Music Box, where the rawest early house records were tested on the floor first.
Jesse Saunders
“On and On” (1984) is widely called the first house record ever pressed to vinyl.
Marshall Jefferson
He made “Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)” and produced Phuture’s “Acid Tracks”. Two records, two genres.
Larry Heard
Mr. Fingers. The man who made house music deep, with “Can You Feel It” and “Mystery of Love”.
DJ Sneak
Puerto Rico-born, Chicago-made. The filtered disco-house king of the 1990s.
Honey Dijon
A Chicago-born DJ who learned from the originals and carries their sound to the biggest stages and runways in the world.
04
More lanes
Other subgenres
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FAQ
Questions people ask
Why is it called house music?
After the Warehouse, the Chicago club where Frankie Knuckles was resident from 1977.
What are the classic Chicago house labels?
Trax Records and DJ International are the best known.
Sources: Wikipedia: Chicago house. Facts checked October 2026. Spot something wrong? Tell us.