Coast to Coast AM and George Noory presented a special tribute to Art Bell, with surprise guests throughout the night, and classic audio clips (view related media). The evening kicked off with Kraig Kitchin, who was president of Premiere Radio at the time it acquired C2C. Art's single-handed ability to explore the unexplained was what won him over, said Kitchin, along with his immense curiosity, and ability to connect everybody from learned scientists to the common man. A radio executive, Alan Corbeth, recalled hearing Art Bell's overnight radio show for the first time on KDWN in Las Vegas, He eventually became his business partner and helped build the show into syndication as it began to focus on the paranormal and unusual.
Whitley Strieber reported on attending Art's small private funeral earlier in the day in Pahrump. "It was a very lovely simple ceremony," he said, with mostly local people, though Dannion Brinkley, and Bob Crane were also in attendance. "Airyn Bell, Art's wife spoke, and it was the most lovely, courageous thing I've heard in a very long time," he remarked. Whitley also addressed the mourners, describing Art as "a man who freed millions of minds and made the world better in an absolutely unique and original way."
Ed Dames talked about the first time he appeared on Coast to Coast with Art Bell, and how they grew to become friends. Mike Bara recalled how Art wanted him to come on the air after a mutual friend's heart attack to discuss the possibility that the cardiac issues were related to a nefarious plot. George Knapp detailed how the news broke on Friday about Art's death, and also recounted being a guest on Art's show in the very early years, along with other residents of Southern Nevada including Bob Lazar, John Lear, and Robert Bigelow.
Linda Moulton Howe spoke about first meeting Art in 1991, and then working together on a radio show that explored earth mysteries and UFOs called Area 2000 (the show eventually morphed into "Dreamland"). Art was a great teacher particularly when it came to radio, Linda commented, adding that about eight years ago, she visited Art and his family in Pahrump, and saw first hand some of the mysterious bismuth-magnesium metal, known as "Art's Parts"-- said to be collected from the Roswell crash site.
Dannion Brinkley recalled his close friendship with Art and how grateful he was when Art conducted an on-air healing/prayer experiment on his behalf when he was about to have major surgery. Webmaster Lex Lonehood shared an amusing account of the first time he spoke with Art Bell, and Bryce Zabel talked about casting Art to appear in an episode of the NBC TV series, Dark Skies (view clip here). During the night, callers also shared their remembrances, and a variety of riveting Art Bell audio segments were featured including the Area 51 pilot, JC Webster, the Super Glue incident, Father Malachi Martin, Mel's Hole, and Ramona's death. The tribute concluded with Crystal Gayle's Midnight in the Desert.