R.I.P.: Former WBT, WMAL Talk Host Jerry Klein

Jerry Klein

Jerry Klein, a music promoter, activist and writer who in the 1990s became Charlotte’s unabashed liberal voice on radio, died Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

He was 66, according to The Charlotte Observer.

For three years he was Charlotte’s lonely radio liberal, hosting his own show on WBT 1110 AM, where he bashed conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and the “reactionary boobs” who followed him. When he was fired in 1997, management said his outspoken liberalism had scared off advertisers and listeners.

“What it boils down to is that Charlotte is just not ready for Jerry,” a station official said at the time.

Klein, who once ran a music store called New World Records, was a promoter who brought concerts to town when there were still few of them. He did the same at the Stella center.

An outspoken liberal, he segued to radio, first with three minutes in the mornings on WBT and later with his own late-night show.

After leaving WBT, Klein moved to Washington, D.C., to reconnect with a high school sweetheart. They married shortly after. There he worked for N/T WMAL 620 AM, where he later said he was known as the “pet liberal.” He left the job in 2009.

Two years later he was was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, then non-alcohol-related fatty acid cirrhosis of the liver. A short time later he found his wife, Lois, dead in their home.

Klein returned to Charlotte in 2013.

“I’ll always remember him for his music before I’ll remember him for his politics,” said WBT host John Hancock. “Jerry and I were exact opposites on religion. We were exact opposites on politics. But we were good friends. We found common ground in music.”