James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American
music critic
''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...
and co-host of ''
Sound Opinions
''Sound Opinions'' is an independent radio talk show and podcast based in Chicago. It focuses on the discussion of music genres, history, artists and albums. It airs weekly on over 150 public radio stations nationwide and is syndicated though the ...
''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as '' Rolling Stone'', ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'', ''
Guitar World
''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...
's English Department as a lecturer in 2010 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.
Career
In 1982, while a senior at
Hudson Catholic Regional High School
Hudson Catholic Regional High School is a regional four-year co-educational University-preparatory Catholic high school in Jersey City, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The school was established in 1964 by the Roman Catholic Archd ...
in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Lester Bangs, two weeks before Bangs's death of a drug overdose. Over a decade later, this encounter would serve as the beginning and inspiration for DeRogatis's Lester Bangs biography ''Let It Blurt''.
Attending on a scholarship, DeRogatis attended New York University majoring in journalism and minoring in sociology. As a junior, DeRogatis began writing for the ''
Hoboken Reporter
''The Hudson Reporter'' is a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Hudson Reporter'' publications mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain is the '' Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983 ...
'', 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 the '' Jersey Journal'', spending two nights a week on news stories and three days on wedding and church announcements.
After living in Minneapolis to manage a friend's band and do freelance music writing, DeRogatis first joined the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' in 1992; he left in 1995 to join ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, a job that lasted eight months, and was back at the ''Sun-Times'' in three years. While at '' Rolling Stone'' magazine, he was fired after writing a negative review of Hootie & the Blowfish's album '' Fairweather Johnson''. The review irked ''Rolling Stone'' publisher
Jann Wenner
Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American magazine magnate who is a co-founder of the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'', and former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free Speech Movement while ...
who had it pulled from publication. DeRogatis's employment with the magazine was terminated after he revealed this incident to the public.
DeRogatis hosts ''
Sound Opinions
''Sound Opinions'' is an independent radio talk show and podcast based in Chicago. It focuses on the discussion of music genres, history, artists and albums. It airs weekly on over 150 public radio stations nationwide and is syndicated though the ...
'' with fellow music critic Greg Kot. The radio talk show is heard on Chicago Public Radio and nationally syndicated by American Public Media and is available as a podcast. The program is one of the longest running talk radio shows focusing exclusively on rock music with stints on both Chicago's WXRT and an early incarnation on
Q101 Q101 may refer to:
* Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101, a live broadcast 'studio' album released by Violent Femmes in 2006
* CKMQ-FM, Merritt, British Columbia, Canada
* KQDJ-FM, Valley City, North Dakota
* WKQX (FM), an alternative rock ...
featuring Bill Wyman from the Chicago Reader in place of Greg Kot. The move to Chicago Public Radio took place on December 3, 2005.
DeRogatis plays drums in the punk rock band Vortis; its most recent album (Spring 2019) is This Machine Kills Fascists ' on Cavetone Records. He previously played in the bands the Ex-Lion Tamers ( Wire cover band), Airlines, Speed the Plough, and The Shotdowns. Vortis has released two albums and a third is due to be released soon.
Ryan Adams
DeRogatis became known also for a scathing review of a Ryan Adams show in Chicago, which prompted Adams to leave a "grumpy" 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 shouldn't have made the recording public, and that leaving the message in the first place was a mistake since it empowered the critic.
R. Kelly
DeRogatis and Abdon Pallasch reported for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' in December 2000 that court records and interviews alleged that musician R. 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 a ''Sun-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 child pornography for allegedly making a copy of the tape and showing it to another person after turning the original over to police.
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. 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. 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.
On July 17, 2017, DeRogatis reported for ''
BuzzFeed News
''BuzzFeed News'' is an American news website published by BuzzFeed. It has published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was heavily criticized, and the FinCEN Files. Since its establishment in 2011, it ...
'' that Kelly had been accused by three sets of parents of holding their daughters in an "abusive cult". R. Kelly released a song discussing the allegations against him and criticizing DeRogatis in 2018 entitled
I Admit
"I Admit" is a 19-minute song by American singer R. Kelly. Released on SoundCloud on July 23, 2018, the song addresses the singer's R. Kelly#Sexual abuse scandals, sexual abuse scandals. "I Admit" was written by Kelly and Raphael Ramos Oliveira ...
.
The result of 19 years of reporting, his latest book, ''Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly,'' was published by Abrams Press on June 4, 2019.
Personal life
DeRogatis was born and raised in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. When he was five, his father, an underwriter for Prudential Insurance Company, died of a heart attack in 1969. After rejecting religion during his freshman year of high school, DeRogatis became an atheist. In 2003, DeRogatis married Carmél Carrillo. He has a daughter, Melody (born circa 1997), from a previous marriage.
References
Bibliography
* ''Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic'', Broadway Books, 2000
* ''Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the '90s'', Da Capo Press, 2003
* ''Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'', Hal Leonard Publishing Co, 2003
* ''Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics'', Da Capo Press, 2004
* ''Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous The Flaming Lips'', Broadway Books, 2006
* ''The Velvet Underground: An Illustrated History of a Walk on the Wild Side'', Voyageur Press, 2009
*