Conservative radio host and Republican kingmaker Rush Limbaugh said he’s been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

Addressing listeners on his program Monday, Limbaugh said he will take some days off for further medical tests and to determine treatment.

“I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn’t have to tell you,” announced Limbaugh, 69. The cancer diagnosis was confirmed by two medical institutions in late January after he experienced his only symptom so far, shortness of breath, on his Jan. 12 birthday weekend, he said.

He was reluctant to discuss personal matters and distract from his work, he said, and wasn’t seeking to cover up his illness. He realized it was better to be honest and avoid the speculation that would follow when he has to miss being on air for treatment or as the result of treatment, Limbaugh added.

“But it is what it is. And you know me, I’m the mayor of Realville,” he said. “My intention is to come here every day I can. And to do this program as normally” and competently as usual.

He said he considers his listeners to be to be part of a “family type relationship” with him, adding that his job has given him the “greatest satisfaction and happiness” he’s experienced.

Limbaugh’s announcement comes at a tumultuous political time, as the conclusion of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial nears.

“It’s shocking to the industry, and it should be shocking to the political establishment,” Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, the trade industry publication for talk radio, said of Limbaugh’s disclosure.

He started his first national radio show in 1988 from New York, later relocating to Palm Beach, Florida.

The hyper-partisan broadcaster has dominated talk radio with a raucous, liberal-bashing style that made him one of the most influential voices of American right-wing politics and inspired other conservative broadcasters including Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly.

“Rush you are in our prayers,” Beck tweeted. “We live in a time of modern miracles. Millions are praying you find one.”

Limbaugh said he intends to work as much as possible. He also said he had focused more “intensely” in the past two weeks on what he called his “deeply personal relationship” with God.

The media figure’s endorsement and friendship is a conservative political treasure. His idol, Ronald Reagan, wrote a letter that Limbaugh read on the air in December 1992 and which sealed his reputation among conservatives: “You’ve become the number one voice for conservatism in our country,” Reagan wrote.

Two years later, Limbaugh would be so widely credited as key to Republicans’ takeover of Congress for the first time in 40 years, he was deemed an honorary member of the new class.

Limbaugh has frequently been accused of hate-filled speech, including bigotry and blatant racism through his comments and sketches such as “Barack the Magic Negro,” a song featured on his show that said Obama “makes guilty whites feel good” and that the politician is “black, but not authentically.”

His popularity has survived brickbats and thrived despite personal woes.

In 2003, Limbaugh admitted an addiction to painkillers and entered rehabilitation. Authorities opened an investigation into alleged “doctor shopping,” saying he received up to 2,000 pills from four doctors over a period of six months, but he ultimately reached a deal with prosecutors that dismissed the single charge.

This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News, Tuesday, October 10, 2017.

Meryl Streep and other stars are speaking out about the sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood power player Harvey Weinstein.

Actor Meryl Streep speaks onstage during American Film Institute’s 45th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Diane Keaton at Dolby Theatre on June 8, 2017 in Hollywood. (Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company, the film company he co-founded, days after a New York Times investigation detailed numerous incidents of alleged sexual harassment by the media mogul over a period of three decades.

Related: Harvey Weinstein fired

“The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported,” Streep said to CNN in a statement, which was first provided to the Huffington Post.

“The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes,” she said. “One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew.”

Streep went on to say that “Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally.”

“I didn’t know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts,” she said. “And If everybody knew, I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would have neglected for decades to write about it.”

Streep won a best actress Academy Award in 2012 for her portrayal as British stateswoman Margaret Thatcher in the Weinstein Company release, “The Iron Lady.”

During her best actress in a drama win for the role at the 2012 Golden Globes, Streep jokingly referred to Weinstein as “god” and “the punisher.”

Streep was also nominated for a best actress Oscar for the 2013 film “August: Osage County,” which Weinstein executive produced.

Award winning actress Julianne Moore tweeted her thoughts on Monday.

“Coming forward about sexual abuse and coercion is scary and women have nothing to be gained personally by doing so,” Moore wrote. “But through their bravery we move forward as a culture, and I thank them. Stand with @AshleyJudd @rosemcgowan and others.”

Patricia Arquette followed up with her own tweet, “If there is a way to cure yourself of being a predator than I hope harvey learns what it is & shares it with the world. It’s an epidemic.”

Actress Rose McGowan was mentioned in the Times story, but not quoted.

On Sunday night, she told The Hollywood Reporter The Weinstein Company needs to go further.

“I’m calling on the board to resign effective immediately,” she told the publication. “And for other men to stop other men when they are being disgusting.”

The “Charmed” star also tweeted her thanks to the Times for running the story, which included accusations against Weinstein from actress Ashley Judd.

Susan Sarandon, who starred in the Weinstein-produced film “3 Generations,” praised Judd for speaking up.

“Huge respect for @AshleyJudd and all the women who broke their silence for the article on Harvey Weinstein,” Sarandon wrote. “Brave.”

“To be clear what Harvey Weinstein did was a disgusting abuse of power and horrible. I hope we are now seeing the beginning of the end of these abuses,” wrote actor Mark Ruffalo in a tweet.

“Men in Hollywood need to change ASAP,” McGowan told THR.

“Hollywood’s power is dying because society has changed and grown, and yet Hollywood male behavior has not,” she said. “It is so not a good look. In the way cooler than Hollywood world I live and work in, I am actually embarrassed to be associated with it.”

One of Weinstein’s accusers, television news reporter Lauren Sivan, told Megyn Kelly on her talk show on Monday that she believes more women will come forward with allegations against the mogul.

“It was kind of a horrible kept secret in Hollywood, that he had this type of behavior,” Sivan said. “People would whisper about it all the time.”

Weinstein released a statement in response to the Times story on Thursday.

“I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different,” Weinstein said in the statement. “That was the culture then. I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office — or out of it.”

Comedian Ralphie May performs at KROQ Presents Kevin & Bean’s April Foolishness at The Shrine Auditorium on April 4, 2015 in Los Angeles. (Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

He was 45.

The comic, who won second place during the first season of “Last Comic Standing,” was on a national tour, with dates scheduled in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday, according to his website.

May had been battling pneumonia and he canceled some tour dates over the last month, a tweet sent out from his account indicated Friday.

He was found unresponsive at a private home in Las Vegas, and the preliminary cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Two days ago May won the Casino Comedian of the Year at the Global Gaming Expo, according to the tweet. He had performances scheduled for the rest of the year at his residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas.

May also appeared on “Celebrity Fit Club” and the “Dog Whisperer” and had two Netflix stand-up specials.

May is survived by his wife, Lahna Turner, and his children, April May June May and August James May, according to the tweet.

Several fellow comedians tweeted tributes after news broke of May’s death, including Marc Maron, Ken Jeong and Tom Green.

Comedy Central tweeted, “Thank you, Ralphie May. You were a world-class comedian.”

The singer posted an update on the band’s official site addressing speculation that he suffered a heart attack.

Steven Tyler performs at the Andrea Bocelli show as part of the 2017 Celebrity Fight Night in Italy Benefiting The Andrea Bocelli Foundation and the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center on September 8, 2017 in Rome. (Credit: Leibson/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night)

“I give you all an a+ for creative speculations but I certainly did not have a heart attack or a seizure ((unless Joe Perry is takin’ a rippin’ lead)),” he wrote.

The band announced last month that it had to cancel the remaining four dates of its South American leg of the Aero-Vederci tour due to frontman Tyler’s “unexpected medical issues.”

Tyler said at the time that it was not “a life threatening condition.”

Related: Steven Tyler suffers ‘unexpected medical issues,’ Aerosmith cancels tour dates

“It breaks my heart to have left this tour early,” Tyler wrote in his update. “The band has never played better.”

Tyler apologized, but said it couldn’t be helped.

“Sorry to have cut the tour short but i had to have a procedure that only my doc in the states could perform,” he said.

Aerosmith’s 2017 shows began in late spring in Europe and had been billed as the band’s “farewell” tour.