Art Bell: Out There… Somewhere…
• Art Bell, the creator and original host of the popular syndicated overnight show Coast to Coast AM, died Friday, April 13 at his home in Pahrump, NV. He was 72.
Bell was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on June 17, 1945 and was an FCC-licensed radio technician at the age of 13. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a medic during the Vietnam War. While overseas, he indulged his childhood passion for radio by operating a pirate station that played anti-war music otherwise unavailable on official channels broadcast to American servicemen. He later set a Guinness World Record for a solo broadcast marathon — over 116 hours — while working as a DJ in Okinawa, Japan.
In 1978, Bell landed an overnight talk show on KDWN-AM/Las Vegas. After noticing that episodes covering conspiracy theories and paranormal topics generated higher interest from listeners, Bell changed the focus of the show from political talk to discussion of these often-forbidden topics — and the rest is history. Syndicated nationally in 1993, currently through Premiere Networks, Coast to Coast AM quickly became a juggernaut and a bona fide radio phenomenon. From 1998 on, Bell broadcast the show from his home studio in Pahrump, some 60 miles west of Las Vegas. He also owned KNYE-FM/Pahrump until 2008, when he sold it to Station Manager Karen Jackson for $800,000.
Bell stepped down from from fulltime hosting duties in 2003, turning the care and feeding of the show over to George Noory, occasionally returning to host Coast to Coast AM programs on weekends. In 2013 Bell launched a show on SiriusXM, Art Bell’s Dark Matter, which lasted six weeks, as well as an online endeavor called Midnight in the Desert. Later in his career, Bell retired and unretired several times under varying circumstances before hanging it up for good in 2015. He also moved his family to The Philippines for a time before returning home to Pahrump.
A tribute on the Coast To Coast AM website reads, in part, “Over the course of countless programs throughout the decade and into the 2000s, Bell captivated listeners by way of his intellectually curious and open-minded conversations with guests who were attempting to find answers to the paranormal mysteries which baffle us all.”
“As founder of Coast to Coast AM, his role in crafting and shaping this program can be felt to this day in elements like the iconic phone lines emanating from ‘East of the Rockies,’ ‘West of the Rockies,’ and the always-unpredictable ‘Wildcard Line,’ as well as the annual ‘Ghost to Ghost AM’ Halloween specials and, of course, C2C’s signature opening theme song.”
The tribute concludes with these words: “We extend our deepest condolences to Art Bell’s family and friends. We celebrate him for his brilliant creation of Coast to Coast AMand the many unforgettable moments he shared with us over the years. As he begins his journey on the ‘Other Side,’ we take solace in the hope that he is now finding out all of the answers to the mysteries he pursued for so many nights with all of us.”
