Toni Shelton’s ‘House Music Party’- a Big Hit in Chicago! New Film Documentary Coming Soon

Toni Shelton is one of the first female ‘house music’ party promoters who, for the past 40 years, helped popularize the high-tempo, techno-funk music that originated in Chicago in the early ‘80s. For the past 12 years, Shelton added flair to her annual house parties by hosting ‘all-white parties’, where she invites partygoers to wear white summer attire to set the vibe for an evening of dancing and DJ mixes.

On July 7th Shelton hosted her 2023 All White House Party at the Sip & Savor coffee shop in Bronzeville Chicago to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ‘house music’. “I think its wonderful to celebrate Toni’s achievements in promoting house music,” says Sherrie Wallace, one of Shelton’s longtime friends. Sherrie has known Shelton for over 30 years, traveling from Cleveland to Chicago for every ‘Toni Shelton house party’. “Toni’s one of the reasons why house music is so popular today.”

“To dance to the best house music,” explains Shelton, “you have to enlist some of the best house music deejays like ‘Mr. Black Onyx Himself’, Marcel, DJ Emanuel, Ron Troupe, aNgel, Reverb and our guest deejay UK Soulful Queen.” Shelton says this year’s summer event wasn’t only about dancing and house music. During a short break in the party she took the stage to express gratitude for her latest venture; producing her first film documentary, Toni Shelton’s Queen Of House Music.

“I’m really excited about my documentary and sharing my story on how I began promoting house music parties for all these years,” says Shelton. “I’m also showcasing- for the first time, the poster art for the documentary to surprise my production crew, friends and guests.”

Toni Shelton’s Queen Of House Music is produced by Toni Shelton Productions and Emmy Award winning DVIDEO 79 Productions. The documentary showcases Shelton’s impact on the rising popularity of house music and how she became a trailblazer for female promoters of house music parties. “I was 16 at the time and me and my friends would sneak in at the Warehouse to hear Frankie Knuckles deejay,” says Shelton. “I was so excited about how the music made me feel, I started to host house music parties anywhere I could.”

Over 200 of Shelton’s friends, house music lovers, and celebrities attended the house music party, including award winning music film composer Rob Diggy (The Unseen, Carl Weber’s The Family Business) actor Charles Parnell (Top Gun: Maverick) and award winning actress Trisha Mann-Grant (Carl Weber’s The Family Business) who hosted the event. “I met ‘Disco Toni’ when I was 19 years old” says Trisha, as she addressed the crowd. “And she taught me everything I need to know about hosting parties in Chicago.” Trisha is a Chicago native who started a career in fashion and print modeling after being crowned Miss Black Chicago in 1990. She’s currently starring in the hit new movie Because We’re Done, in which she also co-executive produced.

Grant presented ‘Disco Toni’ a trophy award in honor of her successful career and multitude of accomplishments. “I am sending Toni a huge congratulations on her upcoming documentary,” exclaims Grant, “and I’m extremely happy to celebrate her 40 plus years of promoting house music.”

Shelton’s four children, Carl, David, Jennifer, and Imani, all have supported their mother in her achievements. Everyone was present at the party except for Carl, who recently modeled for Louis Vuitton’s Paris Fashion Week. “She’s been recognized for years as ‘Disco Toni’ and her Chicago friends love her,” says her son David. “She’s always been my inspiration and I have much love for her,” says Imani. “We’re all super proud of her,” expresses Jennifer. “Seeing her model and hosts these parties when I was a young girl was a great motivation for me.”

Shelton made an announcement to partygoers that the Toni Shelton’s Queen Of House Music documentary is on schedule to premiere in 2025. She says it will feature on-camera interviews from house music pioneers and house music lovers like Kid n’ Play, Teresa Griffin, Trina Braxton, Dru Hill, HeadKrack and the Multi-grammy nominated house music deejay Steve ’Silk’ Hurley.

“And of course some of my close friends are in the documentary sharing their stories as well,” says Shelton. Angie Hall-Martin, one of her best friends, is featured in the documentary and says the party was ‘an amazing success’. “I hugged and danced with people I have known since I was 14 years old. This was the best party I’ve been to in years!”