Sit down with your music nerd friends and ask who invented the blues – you’ll get 50 different answers, none of which can really be proven. Same goes for the discussion on who was responsible for the advent of Rock & Roll; what about Metal, or Hip-Hop. It’s impossible to tell. However, ask somebody in know who invented House music and the answer is irrefutable: Frankie Knuckles.
Unfortunately for House fans everywhere Frankie died on Monday, he was 59.
The word ‘house’ itself was coined from Knuckle’s own Warehouse Club in Chicago. Opening in 1977 Knuckles quickly became the main attraction at the club where he experimented with different possibilities of expression, mainly by mixing disco and European electronic music. However, once the club raised its door cover in 1982 he left his beloved Warehouse and opened his own joint, the Power Plant.
During this time and throughout his career he worked with Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Robert Owens, Jackson, among others as a producer and a remixer winning a Grammy in 1997 for remixer of the year.
Upon his untimely departure Frankie has been remembered by everybody from Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago, to Questlove Jenkins and the Wu Tang Clan.
This “cultural pioneer” will be missed.
