“To know her was to know that the turntables were simply a conduit, a direct line, from her heart into each of ours,“ wrote Teri Bristol’s family.
The house music community of Chicago mourns one of its own this week. Teri Bristol, a DJ and producer whose career dates back to the genre’s early years, has passed away after a struggle with kidney failure.
Bristol had been admitted into Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to be treated for the ailment on January 3. She had returned home on January 13, where she underwent continued dialysis treatments. On March 28, her friends hosted a fundraiser benefit for her at Chicago staple Smartbar.
Bristol’s family shared the news of her Monday, September 25 death in a Facebook post. “Embraced by the love of her family and surrounded by your prayers, your heartfelt blessings, your well wishes and your love, she took her final breath at 11:36 pm last night and was undoubtedly escorted by loved ones lost to the main stage in Heaven,” reads the statement.
It continues: “After a lifetime of kindness, of giving, of sharing, of courage, of inspiration, of happiness, of sincerity, of strength, of compassion, of selflessness, and of pure love – she has returned to her maker’s open arms – having left the very best parts of herself in each of us. To know her was to know that the turntables were simply a conduit, a direct line, from her heart into each of ours.”
5 Magazine credits Teri Bristol for having “paved the way for a new generation of female DJs.” Her records on Strictly Rhythm Recordings and Master Dance Tones throughout the ’80s and ’90s, including charting hits, and she was a fixture of Windy City clubs like Crobar, Medusa, and Smartbar. She often performed alongside fellow Chicagoan Psycho-Bitch, and also with Mark Picchiotti under the moniker Nightman.
We here at EDM Identity express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Teri Bristol during what can only be a difficult and heartbreaking time.
