18 Facts About Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles played an important role in developing and popularizing house music, a genre of music that began in Chicago during the early 1980s and subsequently spread worldwide.

In 1997, Knuckles won the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical.

Frankie Knuckles accepted the offer and moved to Chicago in 1977, becoming the resident DJ at the Warehouse, situated in Chicago's west side industrial zone.

Frankie Knuckles began experimenting with re-edits of songs, extending intros and breaks, and adding new beats to rejuvenate old favorites.

Frankie Knuckles continued DJing at the Warehouse until November 1982, when he started his own Chicago club, The Power Plant.

Around 1983, Frankie Knuckles bought his first drum machine to enhance his mixes from Derrick May, a young DJ who regularly made the trip from Detroit to see Frankie Knuckles at the Warehouse and Ron Hardy at the Music Box, both in Chicago.

Frankie Knuckles had a stint in New York, where he continued to immerse himself in producing, remixing, and recording.

In 1982, Frankie Knuckles was introduced to then-unknown Jamie Principle by mutual friend Jose "Louie" Gomez, who had recorded the original vocal-dub of "Your Love" to reel-to-reel tape.

Frankie Knuckles played Gomez's unreleased dub mix for an entire year in his sets during which it became a crowd favorite.

Frankie Knuckles later went into the studio to re-record the track with Principle, and in 1987 helped put Your Love and Baby Wants to Ride out on vinyl after these tunes had been regulars on his reel-to-reel player at the Warehouse for a year.

Frankie Knuckles made numerous popular Def Classic Mixes with John Poppo as sound engineer, and Frankie Knuckles partnered with David Morales on Def Mix Productions.

When Junior Vasquez took a sabbatical from The Sound Factory in Manhattan, Frankie Knuckles took over and launched a successful run as resident DJ.

Frankie Knuckles continued to work as a remixer through the 1990s and into the next decade, reworking tracks from Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Diana Ross, Eternal and Toni Braxton.

Frankie Knuckles released several new singles, including "Keep on Movin'" and a re-issue of an earlier hit "Bac N Da Day" with Definity Records.

Openly gay, Frankie Knuckles was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1996.

Frankie Knuckles developed osteomyelitis after breaking his foot snowboarding, and had it amputated after declining to take time off for treatment.

Frankie Knuckles established a signature performance style characterized by consistently wearing a simple black t-shirt during his DJ sets starting in the 1980s.

In 1997, Frankie Knuckles won the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical.