Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles (1955–2014) is the godfather of house music — a title he earned rather than assumed. He was the resident DJ at The Warehouse in Chicago from 1977 to 1982, and it’s from that club, and from the music he played there, that the genre took its name. He later held a long residency at the Power Plant and made some of the most important records of the era: “Your Love” (with Jamie Principle, 1987), “The Whistle Song” (1991), and productions under the Director’s Cut imprint. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. He remained involved in the scene continuously until his death in 2014. The Essential Mix recorded live at Pacha Ibiza in 2000 is the document on this site. It sounds like someone who invented the form and spent the rest of his life perfecting it.