François K
François K, born François Kevorkian in Rodez, France, is a DJ, producer and remixer of Armenian descent who moved to New York in 1975 and became a full-time club DJ the following year after finding drumming work too competitive. He played early sets at New York, New York, before moving into residencies at Paradise Garage and Studio 54, teaching himself tape editing to build disco medleys such as his edit of Rare Earth's "Happy Song." An A&R role at Prelude Records put him in the studio as a remixer, and his first credit, "In the Bush" by Musique, became a club and radio hit, followed by further hits including D-Train's "You're the One for Me" and "Keep On," and Sharon Redd's "Beat the Street." Widely regarded as one of house music's forefathers, he later ran the long-running Body & Soul party and, from 2003, held a Deep Space residency at the New York club Cielo that continued for roughly fifteen years, blending dub, house and deep house textures across marathon sets. The Dance Music Hall of Fame inducted him in 2005, recognizing a DJ career that helped shape post-disco, house and garage sounds from the genre's earliest New York clubs onward.