![]() ![]() I’ll tell you my first awareness - listening to his music supersedes my memory of this. It was when I was in California, so it would’ve been my late 20s. But he’s torn: “Irrespective of my participation, I want the guitar back.” (He had previously advocated for Zevon’s inclusion when inducting Pearl Jam in 2017.) In fact, he still has the guitar Zevon gave him during that final show and would like it used for the ceremony. Should Zevon be inducted this year, Letterman implied, if asked, that he would be involved in the segment in some capacity to honor his hero. “He did so much for us, and it means nothing to him.” To me, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is only of interest if Warren gets in,” he says. It doesn’t get much more rock and roll than that.” Letterman then picks up a compact disc of A Quiet Normal Life: The Best of Warren Zevon and begins listing its songs in growing disbelief. “If you listened to the music and anything about his life, this guy was rock and roll shooting himself in the mirror with a handgun. “Warren should have been in this establishment,” Letterman says of his late friend’s Rock Hall chances. As Zevon put it during their exchange, “Dave’s the best friend my music ever had.” It was a master class in a meaningful good-bye on Zevon’s terms: Casually profound with a three-song set and a reminder to “enjoy every sandwich” with our short time left on Earth. But it was Zevon’s 2002 Late Show appearance, months before his death at the age of 56 from mesothelioma, that underscored the depth of their 20-year friendship. During his reigns on Late Night and The Late Show, he invited the complicated musician on dozens of times as both a guest and performer, with Zevon occasionally filling in for Paul Shaffer when the band leader was out of town. Of all the people to enthusiastically posit these questions with, there are few as suited as Letterman. Is he too misunderstood? Does the novelty humor of “Werewolves of London” thwart his reputation? Are critics biased against rockers who play the piano? ![]() Photo-Illustration: by Vulture Photos Getty Imagesĭavid Letterman and I are trying to grasp not only why Warren Zevon isn’t in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but why, until this year, he had never even been nominated for a potential induction. “If you listened to the music and anything about his life, this guy was rock and roll shooting himself in the mirror with a handgun.”
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