Cities
Chicago House Music
The birthplace. The Warehouse, the Music Box, Trax Records, and the city that gave house music its name.
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The scene
House music in Chicago
House music is Chicago’s. Frankie Knuckles played the Warehouse from 1977; the music played there became “house”. Ron Hardy’s Music Box pushed it rawer. Local producers made the first records and Trax and DJ International pressed them.
Chicago still produces house royalty, from Honey Dijon to John Summit.
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Artists
Chicago 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.
John Summit
From Chicago’s suburbs to headline sets. Experts Only label boss behind “Deep End” and “Where You Are”.
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Other cities