FILE - In this Jan. 19, 1998, file photo, longtime conservative radio host Bob Grant attends a function in New York. Grant died Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, at the age of 84, in Hilllsborough, N.J., after a short illness according to New York radio station WABC. (AP Photo/Adam Nadel, File)
January 02, 2014 - 1:47 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Longtime conservative New York radio host Bob Grant has died at age 84.
His death Tuesday in Hillsborough, N.J., after a short illness was confirmed by New York radio station WABC.
Grant once derided Martin Luther King Jr. as "that slimeball." He was fired from WABC in 1996 for acid-tongued remarks he made following the plane crash death of the first black U.S. commerce secretary, Ron Brown. He later returned to WABC.
Grant was known for his combative style and was considered a forerunner to conservative broadcasters such as Sean Hannity.
Grant was born Robert Ciro Gigante in Chicago in 1929. He began his broadcasting career in the late 1940s at WBBM in Chicago. He moved on to radio and TV jobs in Los Angeles and New York and was named afternoon drive time host at WABC in 1984.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014