Rush Limbaugh : biography
Limbaugh was the 1992, 1995, 2000 and 2005 recipient of the Marconi Radio Award for Syndicated Radio Personality of the Year (given by the National Association of Broadcasters), joining the syndicated Bob & Tom Show as the only other four-time winners of a Marconi award. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 2002, Talkers Magazine ranked him as the greatest radio talk show host of all time. Limbaugh is the highest-paid syndicated radio host.Weil, Dan. "Source: Limbaugh’s New Radio Contract Worth $285 Million", The Palm Beach Post, July 20, 2001, pp. 1D.
On March 29, 2007, Limbaugh was awarded the inaugural William F. Buckley, Jr. Award for Media Excellence, by the Media Research Center, a conservative media analysis group.Media Research Center. . March 20, 2007.
On January 5, 2008, the conservative magazine Human Events announced Limbaugh as their 2007 Man of the Year.Levin, Mark. . Human Events, January 7, 2007.
On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Limbaugh was selected as one of America’s top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that aired on December 4, 2008. TV Guide. December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
On February 28, 2009, following his self-described "first address to the Nation" lasting 90 minutes, carried live on CNN and Fox News and recorded for C-SPAN, Limbaugh received CPAC’s "Defender of the Constitution Award", a document originally signed by Benjamin Franklin, given to someone "who has stood up for the First Amendment … Rush Limbaugh is for America, exactly what Benjamin Franklin did for the Founding Fathers … the only way we will be successful is if we listen to Rush Limbaugh".
Zev Chafets, whose book Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One was published May 25, 2010, wrote after the first primaries of the 2010 U.S. election season that Limbaugh was "the brains and the spirit behind" the Republican Party’s "resurgence" in the wake of the 2008 election of President Barack Obama. In his May 20, 2010, New York Times op-ed column, Chafets pointed among others to Sen. Arlen Specter’s defeat, after being labeled by Limbaugh "Republican in Name Only," and to Sarah Palin, whose "biggest current applause line—Republicans are not just the party of no, but the party of hell no—came courtesy of Mr. Limbaugh." More generally, Chafets wrote, Limbaugh has argued the party-of-no Ronald Reagan conservative course for the Republicans vigorously, notably since six weeks after the Obama inauguration, and has been fundamental to, and encouraging to, the more prominently noted Tea Party movement. OpEd by Zev Chavets, The New York Times, May 19, 2010 (May 20, 2010, on p. A27 of NY ed.). Retrieved May 20, 2010.
Rush Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians on May 14, 2012. A bronze bust of Limbaugh is now on display in the Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City. It is the only such bust with its own security camera to discourage vandalism.
Personal life
Limbaugh has been married four times and has no children., by By Sheri & Bob Stritof, About.com. Retrieved July 26, 2010 He was first married at the age of 26 to Roxy Maxine McNeely, a sales secretary at radio station WHB in Kansas City, Missouri. They were married at the Centenary United Methodist Church in Limbaugh’s hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri on September 24, 1977. McNeely filed for divorce in March 1980, citing "incompatibility." They were formally divorced on July 10, 1980.
In 1983, Limbaugh married Michelle Sixta, a college student and usherette at the Kansas City Royals Stadium Club. They were divorced in 1990, and she remarried the following year.
On May 27, 1994, Limbaugh married Marta Fitzgerald, a 35-year-old aerobics instructor whom he met on the online service CompuServe in 1990. They were married at the house of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who officiated. They were separated on June 11, 2004. Limbaugh announced his divorce on the air. The divorce was finalized in December 2004.Herald Staff. "Rush’s divorce final" The Miami Herald. February 19, 2005. Pg. 4A In September 2004, Limbaugh became romantically involved with then-TV personality Daryn Kagan, and they broke up in February 2006.
