Coroner: Art Bell Died From Prescription Overdose

Art Bell

Longtime radio personality Art Bell died of an accidental overdose from a cocktail of prescription drugs, the Clark County coroner’s office said Wednesday.

According to the  Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bell died April 13 in a bedroom of his suburban Pahrump home at age 72. The coroner’s office determined he had four prescription medications in his system: the opioid oxycodone, the analgesic hydrocodone, diazepam, often marketed as Valium, and carisoprodol, a muscle-relaxant. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension contributed to his death, the coroner’s office said.

Bell was known as the late-night host, engineer and producer of the show “Coast to Coast AM.” He specialized in talking about all things weird, including UFOs, alien abductions and crop circles, on his nationally syndicated show to as many as 15 million people nightly. After retiring for hosting full time in 2003, he started his own satellite radio show from his home.

His work captured the imaginations of long-haul truckers and insomniacs alike during his late-night shows. He was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and into the National Radio Hall of Fame two years later.



Bell stepped away from radio for good in 2015, about five months after launching “Midnight in the Desert.”