Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh was an American radio personality, political commentator, and author.

Limbaugh began his radio career as a Top 40 disc jockey in 1971, and continued to work in the medium before joining Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals in 1979 as director of group sales and special events. He returned to radio in 1983.

In October 1984, he replaced talk host Morton Downey Jr. on KFBK-AM in Sacramento, which led to his syndicated program. The Rush Limbaugh Show launched in radio syndication in August 1988 on 56 stations, and Limbaugh eventually became one of the most influential voices in the conservative media landscape. As of last year, his show was airing on more than 600 stations through Premiere Radio Networks and reached 27 million people weekly.

By 2017 he was the second-highest-paid radio personality, right behind Howard Stern. Limbaugh won the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for Syndicated Radio Personality of the Year five times between 1992 and 2014, and was inducted into the NAB's Hall of Fame in 1998. He joined the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993.

He also hosted a television show produced by future Fox News chief Roger Ailes from 1992 to 1996, and had a brief stint as an NFL commentator for ESPN in 2003.

Limbaugh enjoyed debating with those who practiced opposite politics and would appear on mainstream TV talk shows including Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Larry King Live. Limbaugh also has guested on the Fox News programs Hannity, Fox and Friends, and On the Record with Brit Hume.

Limbaugh also voiced his own character on several episodes of Family Guy, and played himself in episodes of Hearts Afire, The Drew Carey Show, and the 1995 film Forget Paris (with Billy Crystal and Debra Winger).

His massive popularity led to the creation of Monty, a short-lived mid-'90s sitcom starring Henry Winkler as a conservative TV talk show host.

Limbaugh wrote a number of bestselling books including 1992's The Way Things Ought to Be, 1993's See, I Told You So, and the children's book series The Incredible Adventures of Rush Revere.

Limbaugh died February 17, 2021, in Palm Beach, Florida. He was 70.