Conservative icon Rush Limbaugh, who solitarily produced the period of nationwide political talk radio and had actually the most listened to program in U.S. history, passed away Wednesday of lung cancer a year after revealing his diagnosis with the disease. He was 70.
Limbaugh’s partner, Kathryn, made the statement on his radio program.
A cultural force with a cumulative weekly radio audience of more than 20 million at his peak, an author of seven books– 2 of which were New York Times best sellers, and the host of a nationally syndicated TV show, Limbaugh was hailed by Republicans and conservatives and derided by Democrats and liberals.
In 1994, his daily broadcasts trumpeting conservative politics and policies were credited with assisting Republicans acquire control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years as part of Newt Gingrich’s “Republican Revolution.” The celebration got 54 seats in the House– the greatest change in nearly a half century– and Limbaugh was bestowed with an honorary subscription by the incoming freshman congressional GOP caucus.
He existed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the 2020 State of the Union Address by President Donald Trump, in which he thanked Limbaugh for “decades of steadfast dedication to our nation.”
A college dropout from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, who was fascinated with radio, Limbaugh began his profession as a video jockey on a suburban Pittsburgh radio station in 1971 and later relocated to KQV in the city. He was fired from both after some of his comments were considered questionable and was told by the general manager of KQV that he would never ever make it as an on-air character.
He returned to his home state of Missouri in 1975 for other on-air radio tasks, getting fired from both before taking a job in group sales with the Kansas City Royals baseball team. He returned to radio for a short-lived task in Kansas City in 1983, and, after being fired, took another on-air position at KFBK in Sacramento, California, changing trash-talk TV pioneer Morton Downey Jr.
. It was there that Limbaugh established more of the format and style that would capture the attention of previous ABC Radio President Edward McLaughlin and later transfer to his nationally syndicated eponymous “The Rush Limbaugh Show.” Limbaugh debuted the program in 1988– three hours weekdays from twelve noon to 3 p.m. ET– on WABC in New York with 50 associated stations in the Excellence in Broadcasting, or EIB, network.
His appeal quickly grew, gaining millions of fans– or “dittoheads” — who would call with the greeting “dittos,” indicating just how much they liked and enjoyed the program. In 1992, following the election of Bill Clinton as president, Limbaugh appeared on the “The Phil Donahue Show.” Donahue chided Limbaugh that with Clinton’s election, “the party was over.” Limbaugh responded that the celebration for him was simply starting.
He would go on to build up the largest audience in the history of American radio, syndicated to 650 stations throughout the nation, according to Talkers Magazine.
While purposely avoiding interviews of “guests,” Limbaugh has spoken on air to Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, Vice Presidents Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, and Mike Pence, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, among others.
In 2018, Forbes publication reported he was the second highest-paid radio program host, making $84.5 million behind satellite radio shock-jock Howard Stern’s $90 million.
As much as he thrilled his legion of followers, he irritated liberals with his political viewpoints in addition to his sarcasm, frequently stating at the start of his show that he had “half my brain connected behind my back just to make it reasonable.”
He would refer to severe feminists as “feminazis” and mockingly utilize “theme songs” to present topics he was about to talk about, such as Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” for a monologue on anthropogenic worldwide warming.
One sector that enraged liberals was in 2007, when he played a parody tune by satirist Paul Shanklin called “Barack the Magic Negro” set to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon.” The tune, with Shanklin simulating Al Sharpton singing through a bullhorn, put music to the words of Black Los Angeles Times writer David Ehrenstein, who wrote that Obama was running for the unelected title of “magic negro” to “relieve white ‘guilt.'”
Another commonly advertised episode was when Limbaugh– a devout Pittsburgh Steelers fan from his time on radio in Western Pennsylvania– appeared on ESPN’s “NFL Countdown” pregame program in 2003. Throughout a conversation on the poor type of the Philadelphia Eagles and Donovan McNabb, Limbaugh recommended sports writers and commentators had actually excessively applauded McNabb’s earlier performance and capabilities due to the fact that of their desire to promote a Black quarterback.
He said McNabb was unjustly provided credit for the Eagles’ previous success that was because of the group’s defense.
Through everything, he endured attempted sponsor boycotts and spawned a genre that included similar conservative hosts Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, and Laura Ingraham– some of whom have produced their own media empires.
Limbaugh even is credited with generating a short-term liberal effort at counter-programming, the Air America radio network, which lasted less than 6 years before folding in 2010.
Throughout his more than 32 years on air, Limbaugh frequently described his “formerly nicotine-stained fingers” while rustling documents, a recommendation to having actually stopped cigarette smoking earlier in his career. He also frequently would smoke stogies during his program.
Limbaugh’s death comes a year after he announced on his program that he had advanced lung cancer and would miss out on time away from his program for treatment. Various guest hosts completed throughout treatment periods, consisting of Mark Steyn, Ken Matthews, and Todd Herman.
“I first understood something was wrong on my birthday weekend, Jan. 12,” Limbaugh informed his listenersof his cancer diagnosis. “I want I didn’t need to inform you this and I considered not informing anyone. I thought of trying to do this without anybody understanding due to the fact that I do not like making things about me.
“It is what it is, and you know me, I’m the mayor Real-ville,” Limbaugh stated. “So, this has happened, and my intention is to come here every day I can and to do this program as typically and as properly and as skillfully as I do each and every day because that is the source of my biggest fulfillment expertly, personally.
“I informed the staff today that I have a deeply individual relationship with God that I do not proselytize about, however I do, and I have actually been working that relationship enormously.”
It was not the very first health concern Limbaugh experienced throughout the time of his program.
In 2001, Limbaugh told his audience that he had actually ended up being practically completely deaf, although he continued to do his program after surgery to have a cochlear implant.
In 2003, he revealed he was addicted to prescription medication connected to neck and back pain and surgical treatment and got in a monthlong treatment program.
This content was initially published here.
Conservative icon Rush Limbaugh, who single-handedly developed the age of nationwide political talk radio and had the most listened to program in U.S. history, died Wednesday of lung cancer a year after revealing his medical diagnosis with the disease. A college dropout from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, who was captivated with radio, Limbaugh began his career as a disc jockey on a rural Pittsburgh radio station in 1971 and later moved to KQV in the city. Another widely publicized episode was when Limbaugh– a devout Pittsburgh Steelers fan from his time on radio in Western Pennsylvania– appeared on ESPN’s “NFL Countdown” pregame show in 2003. Throughout his more than 32 years on air, Limbaugh typically referred to his “formerly nicotine-stained fingers” while rustling papers, a recommendation to having actually quit cigarette smoking cigarettes earlier in his profession. Limbaugh’s death comes a year after he announced on his program that he had advanced lung cancer and would miss time away from his program for treatment.
