One of the city’s most exciting, most creative Black queer dance clubs in the 1980s.
Opened in 1986, Club LaRay was located at 3150 North Halsted in Chicago. The club, which was open from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. (5 a.m on Saturdays), featured two bars, a dance floor, and the “stairway to nowhere,” a staircase that ended at the ceiling.
For many, Club LaRay was a place to dance until dawn, flirt, sweat, and feel alive. The club’s crowd was a mix of regulars, nightlife explorers, and local artists. On any given night, you might find yourself dancing next to Jermaine Stewart or Jamie Principle.
Owned and managed by Ray Hill, the popular house music dance club closed in 1989. Its physical absence only amplified its mythic presence. For those who lived it, LaRay remains a touchstone—a reminder of a Chicago where Black queer nightlife was not just vibrant but visionary.
The building itself was an old vaudeville theater. Parts of the original décor remained through the renovations, like the “stairway to nowhere.”
The stairway became a stage within a stage—drag queens slid down it, posed on it, and used it as a launchpad for performances that blended glamour, comedy, and raw showmanship. It was a perfect symbol for Club LaRay itself: bold, theatrical, and defiantly uninterested in the rules.
Grace Jones’ “Seduction Surrender” and “Slave to the Rhythm” performed by Aja at Club LaRay.
Watch More Videos
Media Burn has preserved several videos that document Club LaRay’s early drag performances as well as the hundreds of Chicagoans living it up on the dance floor throughout an entire night’s DJ set. Enjoy some of the best House music mixes you’ll find anywhere.
Club LaRay Talent Show (June 30, 1987) – A talent show and drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay, followed by a DJ set featuring early House music with footage of club patrons dancing. 1987, 246 min. Watch the video at mediaburn.org/videos/club-laray-talent-search-6-30-87.
Club LaRay Talent Show (December 9, 1986) – A drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay, followed by a DJ set featuring early House music with footage of club patrons dancing. 1986, 291 min. Watch the video at mediaburn.org/videos/club-laray-talent-show-12-9-86.
For a full list of videos, go to mediaburn.org/?s=Club+LaRay.
Media Burn is a nonprofit dedicated to video’s overlooked histories and its most fiercely independent voices, from the 1960s to today. Since its founding in 2003, Media Burn has saved more than 10,000 videos, which are available to watch and share for free at mediaburn.org.
