Rush Limbaugh, US conservative radio host dead at age 70

Conservative American radio commentator Rush Limbaugh has died at the age of 70.

He announced last February that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Limbaugh had been a leading voice of the American political right since the 1980s.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump last year.

Limbaugh pioneered the American media phenomenon of conservative talk radio and became an enthusiastic combatant in the US culture wars.

Limbaugh’s appeal and the success of his top-rated radio show rose from his brash and colourful style, his delight in baiting liberals and Democrats and his promotion of conservative and Republican causes and politicians.

His radio show became nationally syndicated in 1988 and quickly built a large and…