A LEGEND HAS PASSED: Rush Limbaugh Dies Following Storied Career

Rush Hudson Limbaugh, the American radio personality, conservative political commentator, author and former television show host best known as the host of his radio show The Rush Limbaugh Show, which was in national syndication on AM and FM radio stations since 1988, has died at the age of 70. His wife made the announcement of his death on his radio show today. He died at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Limbaugh hosted a national television show from 1992 to 1996. He wrote seven books; his first two, The Way Things Ought to Be (1992) and See, I Told You So (1993), made The New York Times Best Seller list.

Limbaugh was among the highest-paid radio figures. In 2018, Forbes listed his earnings at $84.5 million. In December 2019, Talkers Magazine estimated that Limbaugh’s show attracted a cumulative weekly audience of 15.5 million listeners to become the most-listened-to radio show in the United States.

Limbaugh was one of the premiere voices of the conservative movement in the United States since the 1990s. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. During the 2020 State of the Union Address, President Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Limbaugh was born on January 12, 1951, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to parents Rush Hudson Limbaugh II and Mildred Carolyn (née Armstrong) Limbaugh. He and his younger brother David were born into the Limbaugh family; his father was a lawyer and a U.S. fighter pilot who served in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His mother was from Searcy, Arkansas. The name “Rush” was originally chosen for his grandfather to honor the maiden name of a family member, Edna Rush.

In 1969, Limbaugh graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School. He played football. During this time, at age 16 he worked his first radio job at KGMO, a local radio station in Cape Girardeau. He used the airname Rusty Sharpe having found “Sharpe” in a telephone book. Limbaugh later cited Chicago DJ Larry Lujack as a major influence on him, “the only person I ever copied.” Because of his parents’ desire to see him attend college, he enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University but dropped out after two semesters. According to his mother, “he flunked everything […] he just didn’t seem interested in anything except radio.” Biographer Zev Chafets believes that a large part of Limbaugh’s life has been dedicated to gaining his father’s respect and approval.

{Matzav.com}