Radio Host Don Imus Dies at College Station Hospital, Age 79

Longtime radio host Don Imus has passed away at age 79.

KBTX-TV reports that Imus was hospitalized at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in College Station on Christmas Eve. He died Friday.

A cause of death had not been made public Friday evening.

KAGS-TV reports that Imus was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 and retired in 2018.

Imus began his career as a broadcaster at KUTY in Palmdale, California in 1968. In 1971, he began working at WNBC in New York City and was fired from the station in 1977. He returned to WNBC two years later, and moved to WFAN In 1988. While at WFAN, Imus' show was nationally syndicated in 1993.

Imus was a controversial figure in broadcasting, and often famously butted heads with fellow "shock jock" Howard Stern. In April of 2007, Imus' show was cancelled following a broadcast in which he made racially charged comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. He returned to the airwaves in December of that year.

Imus retired in 2018.