Rush Limbaugh’s final Christmas program aired nationwide on December 23, 2020. The show looked back on the year, including Limbaugh’s battle with advanced, “stage IV” lung cancer. “I wasn’t expected to make it to October and then to November and then to December,” Limbaugh said. “And yet here I am.”
In keeping with tradition, Limbaugh concluded his year-end show with Mannheim Steamroller’s “Silent Night.” As the music began, the legendary host shared the following message with his millions of listeners:
I know so many people think this program has changed their lives for the better. You have no idea what you all have meant to me and my family. The day’s gonna come, folks, where I’m not gonna be able to do this. I don’t know when that is. I want to be able to do it for as long as I want to do it.
I want to, but the day will come where I’m not going to be able to, and I want you to understand that even when the day comes, I’d like to be here. ‘Cause I have this sense of needing to constantly show my appreciation for all that you have done and meant to me. So I hope you all have a great Christmas, a great New Year, and I hope that the things that are in store for all of us in the coming year are certainly better than what we have endured in 2020.
I don’t know too many people who’ve enjoyed 2020. There are probably some sickos out there who have. But 2021 has to be better. We’re gonna try to make it that way here at the EIB Network. Again, folks, thank you so much. I wish there were a way to say it other than “thank you.” You’re just the best. My family is just the best. Thank you. Merry Christmas, everybody, from all of us to all of you. Make it happen!
Rush Limbaugh, December 23, 2020
Limbaugh died on Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021. “For decades, Rush has been a constant friend and source of inspiration to millions of listeners across the fruited plain,” the Fairfax GOP tweeted that afternoon. “We love you, Rush, and we’ll miss you always!”