Posted on 07/20/2006 3:18:50 AM PDT by ajolympian2004
It's fitting that Sean Hannity's fourth annual Freedom Concert tomorrow will be held once again at Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in Jackson, N.J.
Hannity has had a great adventure of his own the past few years. His afternoon radio show on WABC (770 AM) is syndicated to more than 500 stations, and his 12 million-15 million weekly listeners put him behind only Rush Limbaugh.
But numbers are only part of the story. Between the radio and his evening "Hannity and Colmes" on the Fox News Channel, the 44-year-old Hannity has risen above a crowded pack to become one of the country's signature media conservatives.
Almost every Republican with a message talks to Hannity. Yet he's cordial enough so he also draws guests who hold some opposing views, like Whoopi Goldberg and Howard Stern.
Hannity said success hasn't changed him or his game plan. "I try to put my head down and deliver a good product. I've always felt I had to work harder because I didn't have as much talent as other people."
Still vivid in his mind, he said, are the days when "I was just a kid with political opinions who wanted to be on the radio."
He took a job in Alabama for $19,000 a year "because they gave me a microphone." A few years later, the WABC slot came open when Bob Grant, one of his radio idols, was fired.
It has all been uphill from there. One of the biggest cheers from the thousands of attendees tonight will come when Hannity sings - a sure sign a radio/TV host has become a pop star.
That notion makes him laugh. "I only sing because people seem to like it," he said.
He likes people, too. But the big change in his life lately is that he's seeing less of them.
"I love events, but now that my kids are older, I don't travel nearly as much," he said. "When I do, I fly back the same night. Being with my kids is the most important thing."
But he will have no trouble making time for an upcoming Freedom Concert in San Diego - a first-ever West Coast edition.
Meanwhile, he'll be at Six Flags Great Adventure to do the radio show live tomorrow from 3 to 6 p.m. The concert starts at 7, and his fellow singers will include Hank Williams Jr., Sara Evans and Lee Greenwood.
Also on hand will be Hannity's friend Oliver North, who founded the Freedom Alliance, which provides scholarships for children of military personnel killed or disabled in the line of duty.
"We can't ever forget that we have our freedoms because of these sacrifices made by our soldiers," he said. "We've raised over $5 million for them. It's one of the things I'm most proud of."
The last person I gave one to was Tony Snow.
Although I've stopped listening to Hannity (couldn't stand the constant bullying rhetoric) I applaud Sean for this effort.
Please sit down and be quiet...you do not know of what you speak.
Good idea!
Thanks for the ping!
One one side you have Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter, Oliver North, Newt Gingrich and so on and so on and so on, etc., etc., etc., who are great friends with Sean... and you have the Hannity haters here. I think that says it all in a nutshell who the real conservatives are. It sure isn't the Hannity haters who constantly trash Sean here.
You're being hysterical, girly.
Sean is an entertainer whom I don't happen to care for. That doesn't mean I need an exorcism.
Grow some intellectual hair, will you?
Just got back from Six Flags Great Adventure park.....went to the Freedom Alliance and met Lt. Col. Ollie North; Ann Coulter; Sean Hannity; The Great One, Mark Levin; and my all time favorite: The #1 Angel himself: Curtis!!!!
It was Great! They brought the house down with Greenwood when he sang his song....and again when Sarah Evans; and then when they brought out Hank Jr.
If you didn't go; make sure you go next year, and if you did go, then you know how great it was!
There was some rain, but just cooled everyone off, and the fireworks was awesome!
We had a great time!!! God Bless Our Gold Star Mothers; Our Troops; and the Wounded Warriors!!!
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