Terri Hemmert celebrating 50 years at WXRT

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Terri Hemmert's voice, charm, humor, and great taste and knowledge of music have filled Chicago's airwaves for decades. 

Hemmert, 75, is celebrating 50 years at Chicago's very own 93 WXRT Radio – and although she might not originally be from the Windy City, Chicago certainly would not be the same without her.

How does it feel to hold the same intense job for 50 years?

"It's exhausting," Hemmert said with a laugh. But Hemmert also said she "has never been bored," speaking with our Jackie Kostek on the CBS 2 Chicago stream.

Hemmert was the first female drive time host for a Chicago rock music station. In 2010, she was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. 

She grew up in Piqua, Ohio, and her drive to become a disc jockey was born from her deep love for The Beatles. Ever since she first watched them on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS in February 1964 – when she was 15 years old – it was her dream to meet them.

That appearance by The Beatles in front of 70 million TV viewers launched the so-called British Invasion – and got Hemmert into radio.

"I was a 15-year-old kid. The Beatles had been around for a year – it was 1965. I was reading a teenage magazine in study hall, and it had a picture of disc jockey Jim Stagg interviewing Ringo Starr," Hemmert said, "and the light went over my head – and I thought, if I get to be a disc jockey, I can meet the Beatles."

Hemmert went on to graduate from Elmhurst College – now Elmhurst University – with a bachelor's degree in speech. She worked on the Elmhurst College radio station WRSE-FM, and launched her professional career at WGLD-FM in Oak Park in 1970. She briefly went to WCMF-FM in Rochester, New York, before returning to WGLD in 1973 – and finally arriving at WXRT on Nov. 3 of the same year.

As to meeting The Beatles, Hemmert said, "I got halfway there."

Hemmert noted that she has met the two surviving members – she's met Paul McCartney many times, as well as Ringo Starr. She didn't meet John Lennon or George Harrison, though she got to know Yoko Ono through her work with the Peace Museum in Chicago back in the 1980s.

"And I got to meet a million great listeners and a lot of other rock stars, and work with a terrific group of people," Hemmert said.

Hemmert has also interviewed The Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Bob Marley, Mavis Staples, Muddy Waters, Willco, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Moby, just to name a few.

While Hemmert said she has had great fun over her half-century at 93XRT, she also noted some challenging moments – including one on an infamous September day in 2001.

"I think one of the most incredible days was 9/11, when Lin Brehmer and I were on – we were about to end his shift and begin mine – and all you-know-what was going on, and we had to soldier our way through that with no warning."

Kostek asked Hemmert if being on the air at the time of 9/11 made her aware of the role she plays in people's lives as a radio host speaking to the public. Hemmert said she had been aware of that role for a long time – especially having been on the air on Dec. 8, 1980, when John Lennon was assassinated in New York.

"I know that's a part of the deal, and one of the things I love about radio is the intimacy – how I feel like I know them. People come up and say, 'I feel like I know you!'" Hemmert said, "and I feel like I know them too, because we've been through a lot together, and we share our passion for music."

Hemmert said she actually has gotten to know many listeners personally – going with them to concerts and Cubs games. She has also been teaching at Columbia College Chicago for 48 years – and she keeps bumping into former students all around the city.

Hemmert was also the first to announcing the passing of one of the most beloved members of that "terrific group of people" she worked with.

Brehmer – the 93XRT morning host known as "your best friend in the whole world" who spent more than 35 years working with Hemmert at the station – died in January of this year. It fell to Hemmert to announce Brehmer's death on the social media for 93XRT – where she quoted in part his mantra: "Take nothing for granted. It's great to be alive."

Hemmert also spoke to Kostek about memories of current 93XRT morning host Marty Lennartz – on whose show she is set to appear Friday morning for her anniversary.

"Marty was one of my students, and back in 1981, when I was supposed to do the morning show for four weeks – and I needed a producer," she said, "and I got him out of class and I said: 'Can you do it? I can't pay you, but I can buy you breakfast, and pick you up and give you a ride, and get you concert tickets and free records.' And he did it. And that was January of '81, and he's still there – and now he's on the morning. I'm very proud of it."

Meanwhile, Hemmert said the old advice that goes, "Don't meet your heroes," has not rung true with her.

"I remember Talking Heads the first time they came to town. We hung out and got to be buddies," she said, "and Patti Smith – I've interviewed her a million times. We're like – we're old friends. And I don't presume that – they act like it. It's just great."

She also spoke highly of hanging out with Bob Marley – and getting to know Koko Taylor, Mavis Staples, and the many icons of Chicago blues.

Hemmert's story is not one of just dedication and perseverance, but one that dreams can come true.

"Anytime any class, school – I don't care if it's grade school or college – they say, 'Come and talk to the kids about following your dream? 'Yes.' And I do. And they get energized," Hemmert said.  "I can't tell you how many people have told me: 'Don't even try. You can't make it. You're a woman. You're not going to, 'Blah, blah, blah. And if I listened to that, I don't know what I'd be doing right now. I'd probably be sitting drinking a piña colada in Florida, or something. I don't know."

Hemmert also noted that pursuing dreams wasn't just a means to an end for her.

"In my case, I got my dream, but I got so much more. I thought maybe I'd be a DJ until 30 and I'd have to find another career, because you didn't have old DJs back then. But now, age equals wisdom," Hemmert said, "and our audience, you know, some people have been with me for all 50 years. Some of them are really young and they just got into it. Some of them, they took my class and now they listen. And I like reaching all the generations, because it really does connect us."

Hemmert talked with Kostek just as what has been billed as the final "new" Beatles song,  "Now and Then," was released – 60 years after the onset of Beatlemania. 

The fresh release features the voices of all four original Beatles performers, with McCartney and Starr essentially finishing what was initially an old demo recording by Lennon. The track draws in many ways on group's signature style and features emotional chorus where, together, McCartney and Lennon's voices sing, "I miss you."

Listen: The Beatles - Now And Then (Official Audio)

The original "Now and Then," recorded by Lennon more than 40 years ago, came from the same group of demo recordings that his former bandmates used to create the songs "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love" in the mid-90s.

Written by Lennon in 1978 and and completed by McCartney and Starr last year, "Now and Then" also features sounds from Harrison, using pieces of one of his studio recordings from 1995. McCartney also added a new string guitar part with help from Giles Martin, the son of the late Beatles producer George Martin, the Associated Press reported last month. 

"This is the last Beatles single. It's the last opportunity. But I think Ringo and Paul have been just amazing, keeping the dream alive. Ringo once said – because he was getting older and realized the sand going through the hourglass – he said he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to peace and love," Hemmert said. "And that's what they brought us back in 1964, and they continue to do that now."

"I feel like you've done the same, Terri," CBS 2's Kostek said.

And indeed, Hemmert, who spoke at such length about meeting her own heroes, is a hero to many too.

WXRT is celebrating Hemmert's 50th anniversary with a 12-hour radio marathon, starting at 8 a.m. Friday on the morning show with her student-turned-colleague Lennartz. Hemmert will also appear on the midday show hosted by Annalisa.

You can also celebrate at various places across the city on Friday.

Dec. 18 is also recognized in Chicago as "Terri Hemmert Day."