WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WOWO): Kathryn Limbaugh announced at the opening of The Rush Limbaugh show today, that the conservative talk radio icon had died from lung cancer at the age of 70.

Limbaugh, who began his radio career as a music DJ in the 1960’s rose to fame in 1988 with the national syndication of the Rush Limbaugh Show. Limbaugh blazed the path for other national conservative talk shows which would follow. Limbaugh was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in February of last year, and succumbed this morning.

The official statement from the Rush Limbaugh Show: 

It is with great sadness to inform you that Rush Limbaugh passed away today, April 17 after a long and brave battle with lung cancer.  In this time of sorrow, Rush’s voice will continue to be heard, providing comfort and continued insight to his legions of loyal fans.   

All of Rush’s audio has been extensively archived and cataloged by subject, topic and opinion.  Given how timeless and insightful Rush’s commentary is his producers will be able to pull segments that are relevant for each day’s news cycle and allow us to feature the best of Rush for the full three hours of the program.

The familiar voices of the programs’ guest hosts will be used in the show when needed to guide Rush’s audio from one topic to another, but Rush will be the predominant voice heard for the three-hour Monday-Friday show, the AM Daily Update and The Week in Review three-hour show.