Google doodle celebrates the ‘House Music’, a cornerstone of electronic dance music in Chicago

Google Doodle celebrating House Music, featuring legendary Chicago DJs and pioneers who shaped the global dance music scene

This Doodle, like Marshall Jefferson’s music, will inspire you to move! In honor of Black History Month, this Google doodle highlights house music, a staple of electronic dance music that started in Chicago’s Black community. The Doodle was created in collaboration with Kelly G, a popular DJ and producer, and a talented team of guest designers and animators.

As disco faded, house music emerged and became popular in Chicago clubs in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Black community in Chicago revolutionized dance music via creative use of technology and distinctive rhythms. The Chicago club The Warehouse, where early pioneers like Frankie Knuckles, the godfather of house music, DJed, gave rise to the term “house music.” People from all walks of life would frequently come together to dance at parties in the early days of Chicago House. With his 1984 song “On and On,” considered the first Chicago House single, Jesse Saunders, a resident of Chicago, solidified the city’s status as the cradle of this genre and set the way for other hits like “Move Your Body,” “Jack Your Body,” and many more.

House music is now a worldwide phenomenon, with songs from the genre being played in clubs all over the world and being mentioned in some of the most well-known musical works of the past few years. Legends like Larry Heard, Jesse Saunders, Ron Hardy, Marshall Jefferson, and Knuckles are responsible for this influence.

We asked some of these genre-defining artists to explain why house music has such an impact in their own words:

Marshall Jefferson (Producer of “Move your Body” – Doodle track)

“The greatest contribution House Music made was letting the non-musician know he could make music… it changed music completely”

Steve “Silk” Hurley:

“House Music is a feeling…and a genre initially produced in Chicago by us as DJs, along with forward-thinking musicians and singers. It reflects the positive energy of the House Music Culture we collectively developed in Chicago in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, which spawned new generations in the ‘90s and 2000s and has not stopped since.

The most significant contributions of Chicago’s house music to modern electronic and dance music are our use of looping, re-editing, sampling, and the energy of our electronic drum programming, which allowed us to create unique arrangements of any style of music…to make that music “House.” The House Music genre is unique because we can create a House version of any other genre of music. This is still reflected heavily in today’s global dance market.”

Lori Branch:

“Women have always been central to the birth and evolution of House Music. Whether as promoters, singers, songwriters, DJs or producers, we continue to thrive, often against all odds.”

The Frankie Knuckles Foundation:

“House music is a very spiritual and inspirational music that feeds the soul. We are honored to be the stewards of one of the most prolific architects of the genre…the one and only Frankie Knuckles. Frankie taught us what House music can do from making us smile to giving us hope and motivating us to live our lives to the fullest! Forever in our hearts…#FKAlways”

Sundance:

House music is healing…therapeutic,inviting. It restores. House music IS where words end.

Terry Hunter:

“House music is our religion, our culture, and our gift to the world – born in Chicago.”

Jesse Saunders:

“House music is…home, community, church.”

Today, we celebrate the legendary Black musicians who made this genre and transformed music as we know it. Their infectious beats allow people of all backgrounds to feel at home on the dance floor.