Warren Zevon

Warren William Zevon (/ˈziːvɒn/; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All three songs are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978), the title track of which is also well-known. He also wrote major hits that were recorded by other artists, including "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", "Mohammed's Radio", "Carmelita" and "Hasten Down the Wind". Per The New York Times, "Mr. Zevon had a pulp-fiction imagination" which yielded "terse, action-packed, gallows-humored tales that could sketch an entire screenplay in four minutes and often had death as a punchline. But there was also vulnerability and longing in Mr. Zevon's ballads, like 'Mutineer,' 'Accidentally Like a Martyr' and 'Hasten Down the Wind'."

Zevon had early music industry successes as a session musician, jingle composer, songwriter, touring musician, musical coordinator and bandleader. However, he struggled to break through with a solo career until Linda Ronstadt recorded his song "Hasten Down the Wind" on her 1976 album of the same title. It launched a cult following that lasted 25 years, with Zevon making occasional returns to album and single charts until his death from mesothelioma in 2003. He briefly found a new audience by teaming up with members of R.E.M. in the blues rock outfit Hindu Love Gods for a 1990 album release, although no tour followed. In 2025, Zevon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Influence Award category.

Known for his dry wit and acerbic lyrics, he was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. On Zevon's last appearance, Letterman asked him if he had learned anything about matters of life and death. Zevon said he'd learned to "…enjoy every sandwich."

Zevon was born in Chicago, the son of Beverly Cope (née Simmons) and William Zevon. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, originally surnamed Zivotofsky. William Zevon worked as a bookie who handled volume bets and dice games for the notorious Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen. His father worked for years in the Cohen gang, in which he was known as Stumpy Zevon, and was best man at Cohen's first wedding. Warren's mother was from a Latter-day Saint family and of English descent.: 4 They later moved to Fresno, California, and by the age of 13, Zevon was an occasional visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky, where he briefly studied modern classical music alongside Robert Craft. Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 years old. He soon quit high school and, driving a sports car William won in a card game, moved from Los Angeles to New York City to become a folk singer.

Zevon turned to a musical career early, forming the folk rock duo lyme & cybelle (deliberately stylized in lowercase) with high school friend Violet Santangelo. Bones Howe produced their first single, the minor hit "Follow Me", which was written by Zevon and Santangelo and reached number 65 on the Billboard pop charts in April 1966 and number 59 in Canada on May 9. The follow-up single, a cover of Bob Dylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", flopped, and Zevon quit the duo. A third single without Zevon and another session that included him but was not previously released were included on the 2003 compilation The First Sessions.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.