Mural for Frankie Knuckles unveiled in Chicago

A mural paying tribute to DJ, record producer and remixer Frankie Knuckles has been put up at the Chicago Public Library.

The artwork – unveiled on Saturday, 28 September – is in the library's Uptown branch and is also dedicated to famed dance label Gherkin Records, which was active from 1987 to '91 and had Knuckles on its roster. The label's HQ used to be just a stone's throw away from the library on West Buena Avenue.

The Knuckles mural is intended to celebrate the diversity of Chicago's Uptown and Buena Park neighbourhoods. It was painted by Chicagoan artist Max Sansing, funded by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), and managed by the Chicago Public Art Group.

Frederick Dunson of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation, a charity focussed on teaching music in schools and assisting with LGBTQ+ youth homelessness and AIDS research, was in attendance as Sansing unveiled the mural between 11am and 12:30pm. Chicago-based DJ Purple, an avid fan of Knuckles, supplied music at the event.

Knuckles, renowned for helping to popularise house music in the 1980s, died in March 2014, aged 59. The cause of his death was health complications arising due to Type II Diabetes, which he'd developed 20 years prior.

In August 2023, a remix of the Ultra Naté and Michelle Williams track that Knuckles co-created with longtime collaborator Eric Kupper was released. The remix had been sitting on the shelf for 10 years and came out shortly before Frankie Knuckles Day, an annual Chicago holiday celebrating the late DJ/producer.

Naté said in a press release around the 2023 release: "The remix was blessed by my mentor, big brother and cultural icon, Frankie Knuckles, officially 'The Godfather of House Music ', who at the time, was making his way back into remix and production work as 'Director's Cut' along with Eric Kupper."