A conservative talk show icon announced today why he has had so many recent absences from his famed golden mic.

Rush Limbaugh announced he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer today during his daily radio broadcast.

Limbaugh, though part of his radio persona is his braggadocio, is known for keeping personal details private, particularly his health. He said he thought long and hard about announcing his condition, confirmed by two healthcare institutions Jan. 20.

“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this. I thought about not telling anybody. I thought about trying to do this without anyone knowing because I don’t like making things about me,” Limbaugh said. “But there are days I’m not going to be able to be here because I’m going to be undergoing treatment or I’m reacting to treatment. … I don’t want to burden anyone with it, and I haven’t wanted to. But it is what it is. And you know me, I’m the Mayor of Realville … my intention is to come here every day I can, and to do this program as normally and as competently and as expertly as I do each and every day, because that is the source of my greatest satisfaction, professionally, and personally.”

He said he first noticed symptoms on his birthday, Jan. 12.

Calling it his “most difficult day in recent memory,” Limbaugh said he will miss the next couple of days at his EIB studios.

Limbaugh, 69, began his career as a disc jock at age 16 and has been in broadcasting ever since. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, his “The Rush Limbaugh Show” has become the highest-rated talk radio show in the U.S. and is now broadcast on more than 600 radio stations nationwide, reaching an audience of up to 27 million people each week. “The Maha Rushie,” “El Rushbo,” and “the Doctor of Democracy” is often attributed by his fans — lovingly known as “ditto-heads” — as having saved the talk radio format, the AM radio band as a viable media platform, and igniting a populist fire that kept conservatism alive and thriving during the Clinton Administration.

For the past decade-and-a-half, Limbaugh’s struggles with his health has led to speculation that he would soon hang up his hosting duties. President Donald Trump at a rally in Miami last month indicated that Limbaugh had signed a new contract.

During one such medical ordeal, while the host was enduring an addiction to painkillers, he struggled legally to keep his medical records private as prosecutors raided his home to find evidence. Limbaugh had famously dealt with hearing loss that was later corrected by a cochlear implant and re-tubing and severe back pain.

“Every day I’m not here, I’ll be missing you and thinking about you,” Limbaugh said while closing the show.

Here's the audio of Rush Limbaugh announcing on his show that he has lung cancer. pic.twitter.com/V60pAOpf68

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 3, 2020