Jim DeRogatis | |
|---|---|
 DeRogatis atWBEZ in 2012. | |
| Born | James Peter DeRogatis (1964-09-02)September 2, 1964 (age 61) Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Music critic |
| Alma mater | New York University[1] |
| Subject | Rock music (alternative,punk,indie,psychedelic) |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | |
| jimdero | |
James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an Americanmusic critic and co-host ofSound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such asRolling Stone,Spin,Guitar World,Matter[2] andModern Drummer, and for 15 years was the pop music critic for theChicago Sun-Times.
He joinedColumbia College Chicago's English Department as a lecturer in 2010[3] and is currently an associate professor of instruction teaching Music & Media in Chicago, Reviewing the Arts, Cultural Criticism and the Arts, and Journalism as Literature.[4]
In 1982, while a senior atHudson Catholic Regional High School inJersey City, New Jersey, DeRogatis conducted one of the last interviews with rock criticLester Bangs, two weeks before Bangs's death of a drug overdose.[5] Over a decade later, this encounter would serve as the beginning and inspiration for DeRogatis's Lester Bangs biographyLet It Blurt.[5]
Attending on a scholarship, DeRogatis attendedNew York University majoring in journalism and minoring in sociology. As a junior, DeRogatis began writing for theHoboken Reporter, first as a music columnist before adding city government to his reporting duties. In 1985, at the start of his senior year, DeRogatis began writing full time for theJersey Journal, spending two nights a week on news stories and three days on wedding and church announcements.[6]
After living inMinneapolis to manage a friend's band and do freelance music writing, DeRogatis first joined theChicago Sun-Times in 1992;[7] he left in 1995 to joinRolling Stone magazine, a job that lasted eight months, and was back at theSun-Times in three years.[1] While atRolling Stone magazine, he was fired after writing a negative review ofHootie & the Blowfish's albumFairweather Johnson. The review irkedRolling Stone publisherJann Wenner who had it pulled from publication. DeRogatis's employment with the magazine was terminated after he revealed this incident to the public.[8]
DeRogatis hostsSound Opinions with fellow music criticGreg Kot. Theradio talk show is heard onChicago Public Radio and nationally syndicated byAmerican Public Media and is available as apodcast. The program is one of the longest running talk radio shows focusing exclusively on rock music with stints on both Chicago'sWXRT and an early incarnation onQ101 featuring Bill Wyman from the Chicago Reader in place of Greg Kot.[citation needed] The move to Chicago Public Radio took place on December 3, 2005.
DeRogatis plays drums in the punk rock bandVortis;[9] its most recent album (Spring 2019) isThis Machine Kills Fascists on Cavetone Records.[10] He previously played in the bands the Ex-Lion Tamers (Wire cover band), Airlines, Speed the Plough,[11] and The Shotdowns. Vortis has released two albums and a third is due to be released soon.
DeRogatis became known also for a scathing review of aRyan Adams show in Chicago, which prompted Adams to leave a "grumpy"[12] message on DeRogatis's answering machine, in which he blasted DeRogatis for seeming to desire criticizing the artist, not the music. Adams later commented that DeRogatis should not have made the recording public, and that leaving the message in the first place was a mistake since it empowered the critic.[13][14]
DeRogatis and Abdon Pallasch reported for theChicago Sun-Times in December 2000 that court records and interviews alleged that musicianR. Kelly had used his position of fame and influence to meet and have sex with underage girls. DeRogatis and Pallasch reported in February 2002 that a videotape had surfaced allegedly featuring Kelly engaging in sex with a 14-year-old girl. As aSun-Times music critic, DeRogatis had received the videotape and subsequently turned it over to police.
DeRogatis was named as a witness in Kelly's 2008 child pornography trial. The defense lawyers charged that DeRogatis should be charged with possession of child pornography for allegedly making a copy of the tape and showing it to another person after turning the original over to police.[15]
After initially failing to appear for the trial, DeRogatis was ordered by Judge Vincent Gaughan on May 30, 2008, to report to the trial the following day.[16] However, upon questioning by Judge Gaughan outside of the presence of the jury, DeRogatis refused to provide substantive answers, citing his First and Fifth Amendment rights as the basis for his refusal.[17][18] Judge Gaughan disagreed that as a journalist DeRogatis had a First Amendment basis for refusing to testify, but excused DeRogatis from taking the stand in front of the jury based upon his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.[17]
On July 17, 2017, DeRogatis reported forBuzzFeed News that Kelly had been accused by three sets of parents of holding their daughters in an "abusive cult". Kelly released a song discussing the allegations against him and criticizing DeRogatis in 2018 titled "I Admit".[19]
The result of 19 years of reporting, his book,Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly, was published by Abrams Press on June 4, 2019.[20]
DeRogatis was born and raised inJersey City, New Jersey, in aCatholic family.[21][22] When he was five, his father, anunderwriter forPrudential Insurance Company, died of aheart attack in 1969.[21] After rejectingreligion during hisfreshman year of high school, DeRogatis became anatheist.[23] In 2003, DeRogatis married Carmél Carrillo.[24] He has a daughter, Melody (born circa 1997), from a previous marriage.[25]
