Kenny Hawkes

Kenny Hawkes was born July 14, 1968, and grew up in Brighton, England, soaking up Motown, ska, hip hop, and dub reggae. At 18 he left for Southern Europe, developing his DJ skills at some of the continent's most notorious after-hours clubs, before returning home broke and unknown in the early 1990s and stumbling onto the London pirate station Girls FM, which he went on to manage, growing it to 22 DJs and up to a million listeners a month.

There he met Luke Solomon, and the two became residents at Space, London's longest-running midweek house club at Bar Rumba, running it together for seven years and bringing in guests including DJ Harvey, Stacey Pullen, DJ Sneak, and Mark Farina. Hawkes also held a residency at Plastic People's Fridays R Firin' alongside Sub Club's Harri, and his 2003 single "Play the Game," recorded with Louise Carver, reached number one on the Belgian dance charts.

Kenny Hawkes died on June 10, 2011, at age 42, following an illness.