Peter Rauhofer

Beginning in the middle and later part of the 1990s, Peter Rauhofer earned recognition, visibility, and debate through his work as Club 69, the alias under which he delivered a notably provocative brand of house music. Toward the close of that decade, however, Rauhofer broadened his presence inside the American dance-music world. He established his own imprint, Star 69, and simultaneously built a strong following as a DJ. That standing within house circles soon translated into remix commissions from leading dance-pop acts, among them Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and Depeche Mode. Those assignments ultimately brought Rauhofer a Grammy for Remixer of the Year and positioned him as one of the rare producer-DJs who reached the pop mainstream without losing underground credibility.

Years earlier, long before he ranked among New York’s top DJs, Rauhofer grew up in Vienna, Austria. His first sustained contact with recorded music came while he worked in a modest shop that specialized in imports. By the start of the 1980s he was already performing as a DJ in local clubs. He later served as international A&R director for the small Austrian label GIG Records, an experience that supplied valuable industry knowledge. Recognition arrived when the Club 69 track “Let Me Be Your Underwear” became a breakthrough U.S. hit; that success paved the way for the project’s first album, Adults Only, after which Rauhofer began dividing his time between Austria and the United States.

By the late 1990s he was releasing material under additional names, including House Heroes on “Magic Orgasm” and Size Queen on “Pimps, Pumps & Pushers,” while also launching Star 69. In 1997 he issued the second Club 69 album, Style, which developed a cult following and registered on Billboard, aided by the track “Drama.” By the decade’s end Rauhofer had become a sought-after remixer whose clients included Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Rihanna, Yoko Ono, and K.D. Lang. His work on Cher’s “Believe” earned him the 2000 Grammy for Remixer of the Year. Star 69 itself flourished once progressive house emerged as the dominant early-2000s sound. Rauhofer’s DJ career reached superstar level with regular appearances at major New York venues such as the Limelight and contributions to nationally circulated mix compilations, among them his Essential Mix entry. Within the gay community he became especially revered for his support of the circuit-party scene, and fellow artists such as Deep Dish’s Sharam later credited him with helping pave the way for the EDM surge of the 2010s. After a seizure in March 2013 led to hospitalization and the discovery of a sizable brain tumor, Rauhofer died of brain cancer on May 7, 2013. Tributes on social media quickly arrived from Carl Cox, Markus Schulz, David Guetta, and Hector Romero.