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Listeners either worship him as the only man who dares to seek the truth or think he’s one of the nuttiest guys on talk radio.

But, Art Bell took the realm of the paranormal to new heights during the 1990s to become the most listened to late night talk host in the modern talk radio era.

Bell’s radio career goes back beyond his initial foray in the paranormal. He got the radio bug fairly early in his adult life and went to college to get a degree in engineering. After years as a DJ and a relatively unknown issues talk host, he got out of the on-air business until he was offered the chance to reach most of the Western United States with an evening show on the 50kw KDWN, Las Vegas. Starting this job as a journeyman, political issues-talker, Bell gradually began to explore the bizarre and unexplained. When the audience response was greater to this new style, he gradually moved into that direction, ultimately embracing it exclusively.

Art Bell was not the first to explore the paranormal on the radio but his open-minded approach, excellent broadcasting skills and keen interest in the subject matter helped propel him into late night superstardom during talk radio’s cultural boom in the early 1990s. (It didn’t hurt that he broadcasts from very close to Area 51 in the Nevada desert!)

He also pioneered the active use of a website to accompany his radio show building one of the Internet’s most popular meeting places for fans of the fantastic and inspiring other talk show hosts and stations to follow suit. Bell has added to his media repertoire by publishing a monthly magazine, selling audio cassettes of his best radio interviews, and becoming a best-selling author.

His highly publicized “dropouts” from radio due to enormous personal problems added to his image as a man of mystery and spread his name far beyond just the world of radio. Syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks.