Warren Zevon was born on January 24th of 1947 in Chicago, Illinois.

His first album was 1969′s Wanted Dead or Alive. 1978′s Excitable Boy was his greatest commercial success reaching #8 on the US album charts and featuring the single “Werewolves of London” which hit #21 on the US singles charts.

Zevon died on September 7, 2003 from inoperable mesothelioma. When he had been diagnosed with the fatal cancer in 2002 he refused treatments because he didn’t want them to make him too weak to record his final album, The Wind which was released on August 26, 2003 (just two weeks before his death.) It features guest appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, T-Bone Burnett, Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, & Billy Bob Thornton.

On October 30, 2002 (Zevon’s fatal case of mesothelioma cancer was publicly known by then) he was the only guest on David Letterman’s Late Night program on CBS. He played a number of songs including his very last public performance which was of “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.”

“Werewolves of London” Live in 1982

Warren Zevon’s Last Appearance On David Letterman:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4