2020 kicked off the Year of Chicago Music and also marked the Arts & Business Council of Chicago’s 35th year supporting creatives, so we asked the public to help define 35 great moments in Chicago music history. Here's the outcome:
35 Great Moments in Chicago Music History
When Chicagoans Influenced Ears and Minds the World Over
35
1926
Jelly Roll Morton & his Red Hot Peppers made their first recordings with the Victor Talking Machine Company in Chicago.
32
2004
Chicago’s Grupo Montéz de Durango reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with their album En Vivo Desde Chicago.
31
1987
Phuture released “Acid Tracks,” cited as the first Acid House record, a sound that went on to define the UK rave movement.
28
1974
As lead vocalist for Rufus, Chaka Khan wins a Grammy for “Tell me Something Good,” the first of ten Grammys she’s won (so far).
27
1936
Teenaged Chicagoan Nat “King” Cole recorded for Decca Records, as part of Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers.
26
1994
Wilco formed in Chicago under the leadership of Jeff Tweedy. With 2 million albums sold, a Grammy win and 7 Grammy nominations, Tweedy and his bandmates still make their musical home in a loft on the city’s Northwest Side.
25
1978
Wax Trax Records, later the home label of Chicago’s Industrial music scene, was founded in Lincoln Park by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher.
23
1923
Blues singer and queer pioneer Ma Rainey made her first eight recordings, including “Bad Luck Blues,” for Paramount.
22
1965
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians was founded in Chicago, with members including jazz luminaries such as Lester Bowie, Anthony Braxton, Jeff Parker, and Henry Threadgill, and spinning out acts like the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
21
2009
YouMedia Center opened at Harold Washington Library. At this creative and educational space for local teenagers, the late Mike Hawkins, known as Brother Mike, would mentor a generation of Black poets and hip-hop artists, including Noname, Chance the Rapper, Saba, Lucki, and Mick Jenkins.
20
1963
Chicago's Black-owned Vee-Jay label drops the first U.S. release by an unknown band called The Beatles.
18
1957
Buddy Guy moved to Chicago, where he established himself as a lasting legend of the electric blues and an influence to Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, and John Mayer.
17
1995
Pitchfork Media was founded, making Chicago a hub of indie-music criticism and curation. In the mid-2000s, Pitchfork would launch its eponymous, annual music festival in Chicago.
16
1965
Chicago pianist, composer and arranger Ramsey Lewis won his first Grammy Award for “The ‘In’ Crowd.” Lewis’s version of the song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.
15
2005
Chicago’s homegrown Latin music genre, Duranguense, held as many as 5 of the top 10 spots on the Billboard Latin charts.
14
1969
Chicagoans Maurice White, Don Whitehead and Wade Flemons formed a group called the Salty Peppers. After renaming the act Earth, Wind & Fire, they would go on to sell more than 90 million records.
13
1929
Mahalia Jackson met Thomas A. Dorsey in Chicago. Dorsey would become the father of Gospel music, an enormously popular and influential form. His composition “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” would become Jackson’s signature song and a favorite of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
12
1964
The Impressions recorded “People Get Ready” in Chicago. Inspired by the 1963 March on Washington and written by the legendary Curtis Mayfield, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., named the song the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.
11
1970
Soul Train first aired on WCIU-TV in Chicago. Before its syndicated run ended in 2006, the much-loved music program would propel the careers of many Black artists, from the Jackson 5 to LL Cool J to Lenny Kravitz.
8
1958
Chuck Berry recorded “Johnny B. Goode,” laying down what would become one of rock & roll’s most iconic opening guitar riffs, at Chess Records studio, 2120 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
7
1950
Chess Records was founded and would come to be known for recording and promoting brilliant and influential Black artists, such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry. Their music was often copied by British Invasion artists, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream, and Led Zeppelin, who rose to levels of wealth and fame that the Black Chicagoans who originated their music never did.
6
1921
Sister Rosetta Tharpe made her solo debut at the age of 6, performing at the 40th Street Church of God in Christ in Chicago. She went on to become a guitarist, songwriter, and recording artist known around the world as the “Godmother of Rock & Roll.”
5
1977
Frankie Knuckles began DJing at The Warehouse, 206 S. Jefferson Street in Chicago, the club from which the dance genre known as house music derives its name.
4
1915
The word “jazz” was printed in the Chicago Tribune. This is believed to be the first time the word was used in American media to describe the musical form. (Those seeking the article in the Tribune archives should be forewarned that it is accompanied by an offensive illustration.)
3
2017
Chance the Rapper upended the music industry by winning 3 Grammys for a streaming-only album, and without the support of a record label.
2
1943
Muddy Waters moved to Chicago. Waters would influence generations of blues players and rockers in the UK and USA. With his pounding performance of “Mannish Boy” in 1955, Waters asserted Black personhood: “I’m a man! I spell M, A (child), N. That represent man. No B, O (child), Y.”
