Biography

Jesse Saunders (born March 10, 1962 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American DJ, record producer, film producer and entrepreneur. He is one of the pioneers of house music, often cited as "the originator of house music" by critics and historians. His 1984 single, "On & On", co-written with Vince Lawrence, was the first record with a house DJ as the artist that was pressed and sold to the public. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley declared July 17, 1997, as Jesse Saunders and the Pioneers of House Music Day in Chicago. Since his emergence as a DJ almost three decades ago, Saunders has run several of his own independent labels, and worked extensively in music and film production, as well as artist promotion and management. In recent years, through house music reunions, a pending book release and a live 'disc-jocumentary' – where, while DJing, he visually takes the audience through the history of house and electro – Saunders has worked towards erasing the misconceptions associated with the genre's origins. He is also a long-time member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.