Talk radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh has passed away. His wife, Kathryn announced that the 70-year-old king of talk radio finally lost his battle with stage 4 lung cancer that he had been fighting since January of 2020. Despite being seriously ill, Limbaugh continued to do his show this year even though he acknowledged in December that he didn’t believe he’d be alive at the same time in 2021.
Limbaugh was one of the most influential figures in radio history. At the height of his show’s success, 27 million people were tuning in weekly. Limbaugh is also a member of the Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He had a #1 book, was a 5-time winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award for “Excellence in Syndicated and Network Broadcasting,” made Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People, and also showed up on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Not only was the success of Limbaugh’s show largely responsible for saving AM radio, he’s also one of the men (along with Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan) who could fairly be considered to have turned conservatism into a major political force in the last 40 years.
In a touching moment, President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Honor during his 2020 State of the Union address.
Rush Limbaugh is truly a legendary figure who had an enormous impact on both the country and the conservative movement. Personally, I became a conservative after listening to Rush Limbaugh in college and was inspired to start a political blog 20 years ago by El Rushbo. It’s sad that Rush Limbaugh has passed away, but we should all be grateful that men like Rush Limbaugh have lived because they made the world a better place for so many other people with their wisdom. God bless Rush Limbaugh and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
John Hawkins is the author of 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know
