Conservative Talk Radio Icon Rush Limbaugh Dies at Age 70

What’s the story?

• Rush Limbaugh, who transformed talk radio and played an influential role in conservative politics for more than three decades, died of complications from lung cancer at the age of 70 on Wednesday morning, his family announced at the beginning of his program. 
• Limbaugh became one of the most consequential media figures in American history through his radio program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, which became the most-listened-to radio program in the U.S. with a reach of up to 27 million listeners per week. Limbaugh’s politics evoked passions on both sides of the aisle, making him beloved by many conservatives and loathed by many liberals.
• While he was a polarizing force in American politics, Limbaugh was one of the most generous celebrity philanthropists in the country, donating and raising tens of millions of dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and more.
• Limbaugh announced in January 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Days later during the State of the Union Address, President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom before the joint session of Congress:

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)