I Was There: The Rise of House Music in Chicago tracks the impact of DJ Ron Hardy before his untimely death in 1991 at age 32

A new documentary highlights the late Chicago DJ Ron Hardy’s pioneering contributions to house music history.

I Was There: The Rise of House Music in Chicago tracks the impact of DJ Ron Hardy before his untimely death in 1992 at the age of 33 after battling AIDS. Made with the blessing of Ron Hardy’s nephew Bill Hardy, the film focuses on the culmination of social issues of Chicago — racism, Reagaonmics, the AIDS crisis, and general civil unrest — that made the city ripe for the genre’s evolution, in addition to the musical innovation that Hardy was a part of

The documentary team of director Vito Nicholas, producer Elena Winterer and associate producer KC Wray have shot interviews with key scene figures like Jamie 3:26 and Robert Owens, with more planned pending the success of the newly launched Kickstarter. You can watch a trailer for the documentary below.

In addition to more filming and production costs, the £50,000 fundraising goal will go towards paying the appropriate music and film licences, “which will go back into the Chicago community”, the Kickstarter description reads. “Paying the proper dues and respect that is long overdue for this pioneering chapter in music history they have written.”

In 2020, The Frankie Knuckles Foundation and the Chosen Few DJs fundraised for a special memorial gravestone for Ron Hardy. 

Last month, the Chicago house community launched a fundraiser to support vocalist Peven Everett’s cancer treatment. 

Support and find more information about the I Was There documentary via the official Kickstarter campaign.