Fox News' John Roberts: From Rush To Rushmore
 As a senior national correspondent for Fox News, John Roberts is usually the one conducting the interview. But not today. Standing in the living room of his Atlanta home, blasting out Rod Stewart riffs on a 1959 reissue Les Paul, the Canadian-born journalist answers questions about his love of guitar playing with as much enthusiasm as he plays his prized axe.
"Rod was literally sweating on me when he was performing at the very first Rock in Rio festival in 1985," Roberts says, recalling Stewart's show. "I was crouching on a camera catwalk in front of the stage. When Rod leaned out towards the crowd, he was right on top of me.
"I've always wanted to be a rock star," he adds. "But traveling with and interviewing all these famous music icons was the closest I ever got."
As you might have deduced, Roberts was a rock correspondent in his former life. From 1979 to 1986, he hosted the Toronto music program The NewMusic on CITY-TV, where he interviewed bands like the Police, U2, and the Clash, "before people even knew who they were," he says. "I've also interviewed Rush, Queen, David Bowie, ZZ Top, and many other big-name artists, but when I turned 30, I stopped doing it because I didn't want to be a rock journalist for the rest of my life. Covering rock bands was a young-person's game. I wanted to report the news."
To that end, Roberts has enjoyed a very successful career. His resume includes a stint at CBS News from 1992 to 2006, during which he became chief White House correspondent, and at CNN, where he co-anchored American Morning from 2007 to 2010. Along the way, he picked up several Emmy awards, was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, and interviewed prominent political figures, including four former U.S. presidents—George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton—and one future president, Barack Obama, when he was a candidate.
Read more» |
