Today marks 5 years for the death of Frankie Warren Knuckles Jr. or more commonly known as “FRANKIE KNUCKLES” (The Godfather of House Music).
January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014
Frankie Knuckles born and raised in New York’s the Bronx area with his friend Larry Levan were fond of disco music and spent much of their time together during the 1970’s . Knuckle and his friend Levan began Djing at clubs in New York playing disco, soul, and R&B.
In 1977 Frankie Knuckles was approached by a man from Chicago by the name of Robert Williams. Williams explained to Knuckles that he was the owner of a club named “The Warehouse” in Chicago and would like to hire Knuckles as the resident Dj for the club. Knuckles would play disco, varieties of soul, and some rock hits. As the “member only” predominately gay black male club became more popular and more straight white males were arriving the owner Robert Williams decided to open the club to all and no longer keep it for members only.
