On February 17, 2021, Limbaugh's widow Kathryn announced on that day's broadcast that he had died at the age of 70, one year after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

[8] The Rush Limbaugh Show was unusual among syndicated radio programs in that it was fee-based; radio stations pay iHeartMedia hundreds of thousands of dollars (the exact amount depends on market size) for the rights to carry the show, in addition to giving up 15 minutes of daily ad time for barter advertisements and the Morning Update.

[10] An official weekend edition of the program, consisting of "best of" clips from the weekday show, entitled The Rush Limbaugh Week in Review, was launched in January 2008.

[16] Other notable guests who called in to Limbaugh's show include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, unsuccessful Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, economist Thomas Sowell, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and television writer Joel Surnow, who took calls about events in his show, 24.

Former president Donald Trump appeared on the show April 15, 2011, and donated $100,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, for which Limbaugh held an annual radiothon.

[20] On December 6, 2012, Limbaugh interviewed outgoing Senator Jim DeMint shortly after he announced his resignation from his seat to head The Heritage Foundation.

For instance, in early 2005, Limbaugh took a weeklong trip to Afghanistan[28] to report on postwar conditions; he also participated in various celebrity pro-am golf events, especially when he represented his parent company, iHeartMedia.

[38] Based on his work in Sacramento, Limbaugh was signed to a contract by EFM Media Management, headed by former ABC Radio executive Edward McLaughlin.

[47] Stations owned by Cox Media Group[48] and Saga Communications, along with Pittsburgh affiliate WJAS, began dropping the program in mid-March.

[60] The article discussed the controversy surrounding the fact that American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) (which describes itself as "[providing] stateside radio and television programming, 'a touch of home', to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States") carries the first hour of Limbaugh's show.

Other claims—for example, that there is no political counterbalance to Limbaugh on AFRTS—have been rebutted by Byron York, a columnist for the predominantly conservative National Review: "American military men and women abroad have access, for example, to the talk show of liberal host Diane Rehm ... Jim Hightower and CBS News anchorman Dan Rather."

Another possible political counterbalance to Limbaugh is Harry Shearer, who emphasizes his presence on AFRTS at the end of every episode of his satirical Le Show.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced an amendment to the 2004 Defense Authorization bill that called for AFRTS to fulfill its stated goal of providing political balance in its news and public affairs programming.

On his June 17 radio show, he commented that: "This is a United States senator [Tom Harkin] amending the Defense appropriations bill with the intent being to get this program—only one hour of which is carried on Armed Forces Radio—stripped from that network."

A few weeks after this debate, AFRTS added Schultz to the line-up along with other talk show hosts: Al Franken and Sean Hannity.

On the October 23, 2006, broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh imitated on the "DittoCam" (the webcam for website subscribers to see him on the air) the physical symptoms actor Michael J.

During Limbaugh's October 26, 2006, show he said, in a discussion with a caller, "[I]n his own book [Lucky Man: A Memoir],[68] he has written in chapter eight that before Senate committees he goes off the medication so that people can see the ravages of the disease.

"[66] On March 19, 2007, Limbaugh referred to a Los Angeles Times editorial by David Ehrenstein that claimed that Barack Obama was filling the role of the "magic negro", and that this explained his appeal to voters.

Macbeth joined the Army but did not complete basic training, yet falsely claimed in alternative media interviews that he and his unit routinely committed war crimes in Iraq.

[78][79] On June 7, 2007, Macbeth pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and was sentenced to five months in jail and three years probation.

[84] Media Matters pointed out that Limbaugh did not mention Jesse Macbeth on his September 26 radio show until one minute and 50 seconds after talking about "phony soldiers" with the caller.

[86] Limbaugh said that he allowed the caller to continue down that tangent while, off-mic, he searched for the commentary on Jesse Macbeth to present to his audience, thus accounting for the delay.

On September 28, 2003, less than a month after his initial appearance on the show, Limbaugh made comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and his perceived less than stellar performance as of late.

[89] On January 16, 2009, Limbaugh read a letter on his radio show that he had received a request from a national print outlet: ... "If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal."

[93][94][95] In remarks aired by CNN on March 1, 2009, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said that Limbaugh is "an entertainer" and his rhetoric at the convention was "incendiary" and "ugly".

[98] On March 6, Limbaugh told Byron York of the Washington Examiner that his ratings for his radio show had significantly increased since he had begun criticizing the Obama Administration.

[99] On February 29, 2012, Limbaugh said that Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student and women's rights activist, supposedly was a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his radio show, in response to testimony that Fluke gave to Congressional Democrats in favor of requiring contraception to be included in insurance provided by employers, including religiously affiliated organizations that object to its usage.

[102] In March 2012, social media boycott promoters claimed that an additional 96 advertisers had dropped the show, but The Washington Post later reported that this was just a regular quarterly notice, not specific to the controversy.

[111] Determining Obama had weathered that storm, Limbaugh lifted the pause the next day and renewed his call for his listeners to vote for Clinton in the upcoming Indiana and North Carolina primaries.

However, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann refused to press charges on anyone, saying that it would be nearly impossible to enforce because of difficulties proving voter intent and concerns that a loyalty oath would violate freedom of association.