Phil Valentine, a conservative Nashville-based radio host whose program was broadcast on more than 100 stations nationwide, died Saturday of coronavirus six weeks after he announced that he had contracted the virus but that he was "on the other side" of the infection, Rolling Stone reports
Valentine announced July 11th that he had contracted the coronavirus, but stated about ten days later that he had recovered. "I think I'm on the other side of it," Valentine said of the virus during a brief return to his radio show July 22nd, as he described coughing, congestion, and fatigue that "hurts like crap." One day later, he was readmitted to the hospital and put on a ventilator.
The 61-year-old radio host had frequently dismissed the danger of the pandemic, and crafted a parody song called "The Vaxman" to demean the vaccine. The parody featured the line, "Let me tell you how it will be, and I don't care if you agree, Cause I'm the Vaxman, yeah I'm the Vaxman. If you don't like me coming round, be thankful I don't hold you down."