49 Facts About Warren Zevon

Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician.

Warren Zevon had early music industry successes as a session musician, jingle composer, songwriter, touring musician, musical coordinator, and bandleader.

In 2023, Warren Zevon was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Warren Zevon was born in Chicago, the son of Beverly Cope and William Warren Zevon.

Warren Zevon's father was a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, whose original surname was Zivotofsky.

William Warren Zevon worked as a bookie who handled volume bets and dice games for the notorious Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen.

Warren Zevon worked for years in the Cohen crime family, in which he was known as Stumpy Zevon, and was best man at Cohen's first wedding.

Warren Zevon's mother was from a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints family and of English descent.

Warren Zevon soon quit high school and moved from Los Angeles to New York City to become a folk singer.

Warren Zevon turned to a musical career early, forming a musical duo with his high school friend, Violet Santangelo, called lyme and cybelle.

Warren Zevon spent time as a session musician and jingle composer.

Warren Zevon worked particularly closely with Phil, arranging and playing keyboards on his first and third solo albums and co-writing tracks on his second and third albums.

Warren Zevon lived and played in the Dubliner Bar, a small tavern in Sitges, near Barcelona, owned by David Lindell who was a mercenary.

The guide's latest edition calls it Warren Zevon's "most realized work".

In 1978, Warren Zevon released Excitable Boy to critical acclaim and popular success.

Warren Zevon followed Excitable Boy with Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School, in 1980.

The album contains the first of Warren Zevon's writing collaborations with respected writers of fiction: "The Overdraft", co-written with Thomas McGuane.

In 1983 Warren Zevon, who was recently divorced, became engaged to Philadelphia disc jockey Anita Gevinson and moved to the East Coast.

Warren Zevon retreated from the music business for several years, except for playing live solo shows; during this time he finally overcame severe alcohol and drug addictions.

Transverse City was a commercial disappointment, and Warren Zevon was dropped by Virgin Records soon after the album's release.

In 1991, Warren Zevon who was a solo artist, released Mr Bad Example.

Warren Zevon sang lead vocals on the song "Casey Jones" from the Grateful Dead tribute album Deadicated, with regular collaborator David Lindley.

Warren Zevon toured the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand during this period.

Warren Zevon served as musical coordinator and occasional guitarist for an ad-hoc rock music group called the Rock Bottom Remainders, a collection of writers performing rock-and-roll standards at book fairs and other events.

An affiliated project for which Warren Zevon both played and wrote liner notes is the offbeat 1998 album Stranger Than Fiction, a two-CD set attributed to the Wrockers, containing rock covers and originals by many of the Remainders authors plus such notables as Norman Mailer and Maya Angelou.

Warren Zevon oversaw music for the short-lived revival of the NBC series Route 66, contributing that show's main title theme, "If You Won't Leave Me I'll Find Somebody Who Will".

Warren Zevon's music was featured in the four William Shatner TekWar movies in 1994.

Warren Zevon is listed as "theme music composer" in the opening credits.

The song appeared on Warren Zevon's 2-CD set, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.

Occasionally between 1982 and 2001, Warren Zevon filled in for Paul Shaffer as bandleader on Late Night with David Letterman and later the Late Show with David Letterman.

Warren Zevon's cover of cult artist Judee Sill's "Jesus Was a Crossmaker" predated the wider rediscovery of her work a decade later.

Warren Zevon appeared on the Larry Sanders Show on HBO, in 1993, playing himself as a guest on the show, promoting Learning to Flinch.

Warren Zevon played himself on two episodes of Suddenly Susan in 1999, along with singer and actor Rick Springfield.

One of Warren Zevon's compulsions was buying and hoarding identical gray Calvin Klein T-shirts.

In interviews, Warren Zevon described a lifelong phobia of doctors and said he seldom consulted one.

Warren Zevon had started working out, and he looked physically fit.

Warren Zevon was deeply shaken by the news and began drinking again after 17 years of sobriety.

On October 30,2002, Warren Zevon was featured alone on an episode of the Late Show with David Letterman as the only guest for the entire hour.

Warren Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness.

Warren Zevon had been a frequent guest and occasional substitute bandleader on Letterman's television shows since Late Night was first broadcast in 1982.

Warren Zevon stated previously that his illness was expected to be terminal within months after diagnosis in late 2002.

When his diagnosis became public, Warren Zevon told the media that he just hoped to live long enough to see the next James Bond movie, a goal he accomplished.

Warren Zevon died of mesothelioma on September 7,2003, aged 56, at his home in Los Angeles.

Warren Zevon's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles.

The Wind was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2003, and Warren Zevon received five posthumous Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year for the ballad "Keep Me in Your Heart".

Warren Zevon was married to Crystal, and their daughter Ariel Warren Zevon was born in 1976.

Ariel Warren Zevon is a singer-songwriter and former cafe owner in Vermont.

Warren Zevon was a friend of United States Representative Steve Cohen, at the time a State Senator, the two attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention together.

Crystal Zevon said Warren had given her permission to use the journal excerpts and instructed her to present an unvarnished portrayal of his life that did not sanitize his many struggles.