Disco Music

Disco is a form of dance music that is known for its popularity and cultural impact in the 1970s. The term derives from the French word “discothèque.” In the late 1960s, disco music grew out of the R&B and soul music scene in Philadelphia and the dance scene of LGBTQ+ communities in New York City. As disco music scene continued to grow in the 1970s, singers and groups like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, and Earth, Wind, and Fire became popular and disco was seen as a reaction to the growing rock scene. In the late 1970s, disco began to lose its steam and the infamous Disco Demolition Night riot took place on July 12, 1979 at a baseball game in Chicago, Illinois, which helped end disco's popularity as a radio and commercial genre. Researchers and fans have posited that the virulent reactions to disco music had as much to do with disco's gay, black roots and ethos as it did with the actual sound of the music

While record labels and artists may have moved away from marketing themselves as disco, genres as diverse as house, EDM, R&B, hip hop, and new wave owe a debt to the sound, techniques, performers, and general aura of 1970s disco.

Image by Sarah from Brizzzzzle, UK - Disco ball in blueUploaded by TheCuriousGnome, CC BY 2.0