Legendary television and radio host Larry King passes away

Veteran television and radio host Larry King has passed away. He was 87.

According to King’s son, Chance, the long-time host of CNN’s “Larry King Live” took his last breathe on Saturday morning (Jan. 23) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. King had a long history of health problems including heart issues, lung cancer, and angina. Yet, King had managed to successfully recover from them all. He had been previously hospitalized after he contracted COVID-19 in late December. However, a message posted to King’s verified Facebook account, which confirmed his passing, did not specify the exact cause of death.

Shortly after the announcement, an array of rappers paid homage to the late, veteran journalist. Rappers like N.O.R.E saluted King in a post on his Twitter timeline. “Drinking for Larry king today Rest In Peace the legend mad I never showed up when I was invited !!!!,” he tweeted.

King’s relationship with hip hop is respectable, to say the least. After interviewing numerous artists in the rap game, King always remained honest about his feelings for hip hop. In 2014, he told VICE that he doesn’t “appreciate hip hop. But if it’s good hip hop, and people like it, I understand it finding its audience.” Despite his candid thoughts, the best artists in the game continued to drop by his show to talk to him about everything they had going on.

After leaving CNN in 2010, King went on to host his own series “Larry King Now” on Ora Media. During his run on the digital television network, he interviewed plenty of artists like The Game, Pusha-T, Ludacris, Rapsody, DJ Khaled, 50 Cent and so many more. 50 also took to his social media this morning to pay his respects. “R.i.P To the legend Larry King God bless him,” he tweeted.