Frankie Knuckles

Born Francis Nicholls on January 18, 1955, Frankie Knuckles was an American House Music DJ, producer, label owner, remixer and tireless champion of the genre that would come to be known as House Music.

In the Bronx, Frankie Knuckles began to frequent discotheques during the 1970s. He was studying textile design when he began to DJ at underground New York venues including the Continental Baths. At the prompting of Robert Williams, Frankie moved to Chicago where Williams was operating a club that would later come to be known as The Warehouse. In 1982, Frankie moved to his own club, The Power Plant. In incredible second and third acts, Frankie Knuckles would play a key role as a DJ at Delirium during the explosion of electronic music and rave culture in 1987, followed by a seminal stint at New York’s Sound Factory Bar. In 1997, Frankie Knuckles won the Grammy Award for “Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical.”

In the 2000s, Frankie Knuckles split his time between residencies in Europe and his home in Chicago. Frankie Knuckles died on March 31, 2014 of complications from diabetes. He was 59 years. old. -TM

aka: FK, FK Always, Director’s Cut (with Eric Kupper)