NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Talk show host Phil Valentine, a skeptic of vaccinations who reversed his opinion after being diagnosed with COVID-19, has died, his radio station announced Saturday. He was 61.
“We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away,” Valentine’s radio station, SuperTalk 99.7, tweeted on Saturday. “Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Valentine, whose nationally syndicated “Phil Valentine Show” aired on 100 stations from 2007 to 2019, questioned the vaccines on his show on the Nashville radio station, Rolling Stone reported.
We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away. Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers. pic.twitter.com/vhXpE7x0oX
— SuperTalk 99.7 WTN (@997wtn) August 21, 2021
On July 11, the conservative talk show host confirmed through his Facebook page that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19, WTVF reported. He predicted he would overcome the virus, but his condition soon worsened, according to The Tennessean.
“I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, ‘Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories,’” Valentine’s brother Mark Valentine, told the newspaper on July 25.
Three days later, Mark Valentine confirmed in a Facebook post that his brother was on a ventilator, WSMV reported.
On his radio show, Phil Valentine said he disagreed with mask mandates and said hospitals were never in danger of being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, WKRN reported. The radio host also was critical of the virus vaccine and on June 20 released a parody of The Beatles’ song “Taxman,” calling it “Vaxman.”
Phil Valentine had been a radio personality since he was 20, The Tennessean reported. He became a popular conservative Nashville talk show host in 2001 by criticizing then-Gov. Don Sundquist’s state income tax proposal, according to the newspaper.
He later wrote a book about the protests called “Tax Revolt,” WTVF reported.
After 12 years in syndication, Phil Valentine signed a three-year deal in 2019 with WTN, The Tennessean reported.
Mark Valentine said his brother eventually regretted his stance.
“He regrets not being more adamant about getting the vaccine,” Mark Valentine told the newspaper. “Look at the dadgum data.”
Late last month, Mark Valentine told Nashville public radio station WPLN that his brother wished “he could do it over.”
“His regret (was) ‘I made the decision (not to get vaccinated) based on my situation, but I know now that a lot of people didn’t get the vaccine because I didn’t get the vaccine,” Mark Valentine told the radio station. “And that is what I would like to correct.’“
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