Frankie Knuckles, a Chicago disc jockey known as the “Godfather of House Music,” has died at age 59.
The Cook County medical examiner says Knuckles died on Monday (local time) in Chicago. The Grammy winner was considered a key figure in the evolution of the music genre, dating back three decades.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Chicago has lost “one of its most treasured cultural pioneers.” Chicago named a stretch of road near downtown for the Bronx native, calling it “Honorary ‘The Godfather of House Music’ Frankie Knuckles Way.”
He told the Chicago Sun-Times last year that he took that role “very seriously” and felt he represented “a lot of people who really believe in this music.”
Knuckles also was a producer, doing work for artists including Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
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– AP
