Chicago’s Legendary Club LaRay
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, […]
Category: Music
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement. On Thursday, August 21, 2025, watch […]
The RILM Archive of Popular Music Magazines has Launched
The RILM Archive of Popular Music Magazines (RAPMM) is a continuously expanding digital collection that currently includes over 125 independently published popular music magazines and fanzines from the late 1960s to […]
The RILM Archive of Popular Music Magazines has LaunchedRead More »
WTTW Interviews Frankie Knuckles
Explore the origins of house music, which began in Chicago’s underground party scene.
Aaron Pierre Brown and The House of Avant-Garde
The House of Avant-Garde was established in 1986 by Wardell Ford, Thomas Sampson, and DeRico “Tracy” Reed. Aaron Pierre Brown moved to Chicago from Michigan in the Fall of 1986. […]
Having A Ball!
With The House of Avant-Garde Filmed and directed by Stephanie Coleman in 1992 with The House of Avant-Garde, this 30 minute film immerses us in Chicago’s vibrant, Black, LGBTQ+ ballroom […]
Home of House at Navy Pier
Exhibition closes October 31, 2024 Chicago is the birthplace of House music. House evolved through the early 1980s and brought together Chicagoans of different races, ages, cultures, and orientations like […]
House Music, A Cultural Revolution
The new House Music documentary, House Music: A Cultural Revolution, airs November 8, 2024 on WTTW’s Chicago Stories series. This powerful film is produced by two Chicagoans who were immersed […]
Interview with the Legendary Lori Branch
The Gay Origins of House Music on the ‘But We Loved’ podcast. Sneaking out in the early Warehouse years; Robert Ford and Thing mag; being disowned for being gay; the […]
Ballroom is Still About Black Queer Joy
Ballroom continues to be an essential place for Black and Brown LGBTQ people to find care, connection, and chosen family.