David Letterman, who in 2002 hosted Warren Zevon’s final television appearance before his death, paid tribute to his friend Saturday night with a lengthy Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction speech that lasted several times as long as the Killers’ musical salute that followed. The former late-night host mixed jokes about werewolves with the memory of breaking down in tears at the end of his last encounter with Zevon.
Letterman told the story of Zevon’s appearance on his program shortly after the rocker was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given just months to live. That’s where Zevon gave his famous advice, “Enjoy every sandwich,” and Letterman talked about following the singer-songwriter to his dressing room. There, he said, Zevon handed him the electric guitar he had used during his many appearances on the show, saying, “Take care of this for me.” “I know what’s supposed to happen now,” Letterman said, “and sure enough, it happened. I started sobbing uncontrollably.”
Letterman stood next to the guitar in question and said, “For 22 years I’ve been taking care of the guitar. … By God, tonight I’m going back to work.” To Dave Keuning, lead guitarist for the Killers, he said, “It’s all yours, sir.” ” And at that point, it was left to the Killers — along with special guest Waddy Wachtel, who played guitar on many of Zevon’s most famous records — to close the tribute with their version of one of the honoree’s signature songs, “Lawyers, Guns and Money.”
It was only a one-song tribute, and his most famous song, “Werewolves of London,” was left out of it — except for a few “Ah-oooh!” phrases that Brandon Flowers worked on toward the end of “Lawyers” as a semi-subtle interpolation.
Read the full text of Letterman’s speech below:
“My name is Dave ‘They Call Me the Breeze’ Letterman. I mean, honest to God. How cool is that, guys? How can you not feel a little disappointed after Salt-N-Pepa? I don’t blame you. Let’s finish the show and go home. Now, I can’t tell you how much fun it is for me, first of all, to just be out of the house, but second of all, to be here. And I want to thank the people who invited me to be a part of it, to represent Warren Zevon, to represent his family and to represent the people who love Warren’s music. Thank you very much for that.
“About a week ago, I talked to Warren’s son, Jordan, and I said, ‘Jordan, first of all, I’m honored beyond belief to be a part of this, and thank you again. Are there any things you’d like me to mention about that night?” And Jordan said, “Yes. There are three things I’d like you to mention: When Warren was a child, he studied with Igor Stravinsky, the classical composer. “Okay,” I said, “I’ll do that.” I said, “By the way, when I was a kid I had a paper route,” and we moved on. He said, “I also want you to talk about Stumpy, the gangster.” I said, “Okay, I got it. Stumpy the gangster. He said, “Next I want you to mention Bev the Mormon. » ‘Okay. Stumpy the gangster, Bev the Mormon. Understood. And I said, “By the way, Jordan, those are my two favorite songs.” He said, “They were his parents, you idiot.”
“Oh, by the way, Igor Stravinsky is still waiting for his nomination.
“I first discovered Warren Zevon’s music when there was an article in Rolling Stone, a front-page article about Warren Zevon. It was called ‘The Crack Up and Resurrection of Warren Zevon.’ I enjoyed this man’s music, and at one point in the article we realized that Warren had addiction issues. He’s emotionally troubled, he’s addicted, and he struggles, and we all know those stories sometimes don’t end well. it was completely out of my realm of experience. But thanks to that, Warren was able to get through it with the help of his family and his friends, and he saved his own life, and I just wonder: is it harder to save his own life or someone else’s, or is it even the same? I found this even more valuable.
“When I then got to know Warren in person. I used to have a television show on NBC. Hands if you remember NBC. Warren was a guest on the show and he often filled in for our musical director, Paul Shaffer. And it was a pleasure for me to have those two, to listen to Warren, to talk and to know Warren. And I was fascinated by an album that Warren had made in the ’70s. It was called ‘Stand in the Fire.’ It was recorded at the Roxy on Sunset Blvd., and it was a live album, and the energy of that album came off the record at that time and jumped out at you and knocked you over. And I was talking to Warren about that album on the show and I said, “Warren, that was so great, ‘Stand in the Fire.’ The music on this live album, I couldn’t get enough of it. It was extremely dynamic. Warren looked at me and he said, “Well, you know, honestly, Dave, when it comes to the ’70s, I really don’t remember much,” sort of explaining his struggle. But then the music that we were listening to, Warren playing with our band…and forgive me for this, but being there in that studio, it was my own version of “20 Feet From Stardom.” It was delicious,
“You know, in music, many claim it, but Warren is a poet who leaves few of life’s vagaries unaddressed. Warren’s music is dense with historical illusions, love and sadness, tinged with unexpected whimsy. Delivered with third-rail tension rock ‘n’ roll, or sweet, heartbreaking, lush, symphonic melodies, either version of the man’s music is classic.
“Rock’n’roll… Ask any of Warren’s peers – Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan. Hell, ask Igor Stravinsky. Warren Zevon is in my Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in fact his own wing.”
“I had an idea; you’re going to have to bear with me on this. I’m so engrossed in Warren Zevon’s work that when I was coming here tonight in the Way-mo, I decided I’d better make a list of Warren Zevon songs and explain some of them to this audience… And keep in mind, thanks, I’m not a musicologist, I’m not a rock teacher. I’m just Dave. Are you ready for this? Here we go. Now this is not a complete list. And I have divided them into three categories.
“The first category: Warren Zevon, global and personal conflicts. ‘Roland, the Headless Shooter Thompson’ – we all know it’s about a Norwegian mercenary and Patty Hearst. We know ‘Excitable Boy’ – it’s about a boy who gets very excited about the roast. ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’ – and my God, if that doesn’t get you into the Hall of Fame, stop trying.
“Category number two: love songs. ‘Mutinous.’ Oh my God, it makes people cry. “Reconsider me. » It also makes people cry. “In Search of a Heart.” Every time I listen to this song, it’s always like the first time I heard it and then I start crying.
“Okay, the third category of Warren Zevon songs: songs about werewolves. It’s true. It’s about a werewolf in London, and I don’t know if it’s a true story, but there you go.”
A tribute trailer followed featuring Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Don Henley and Jorge Calderon, among other friends and contemporaries, speaking about Zevon’s impact, interspersed with performance clips in which Linda Ronstadt did one of her many covers of his work. Then Letterman came back.
David Letterman speaks onstage during the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Peacock Theater on November 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for RRH
“The thing about ‘Enjoy Every Sandwich’ – you know it’s easy, but it’s deeply meaningful. And there’s not a person in this room who hasn’t thought about it, but no one can hold onto that on a daily basis. But by God, isn’t that true of life on the planet? Savor every sandwich.
“I have a joke I want to try: Oh my God, I’m surrounded by killers and they captured Waddy Wachtel. Oh, my brother.
“So that night with Warren on the show, it was 22 years ago, the last time I saw Warren after the show, Warren goes up to his dressing room and I follow Warren into the dressing room myself. And I’ve been warned never to follow people into the dressing room, but I go to see Warren and we’re in the dressing room and he’s changed his clothes and he gets his stuff and he puts it away. And he has a guitar there that he uses every time that he appears. our show. And while we’re talking, he picks up the guitar and puts it in the guitar case. And then he turns these two little guitar clips over on a guitar case. He closes the guitar case and he hands it to me. “So in my head, I think I saw that movie. I know what’s supposed to happen now, and sure enough, it did. I started sobbing uncontrollably. Warren and I hugged and I said, ‘Warren, I love your music.’
“So for 22 years I’ve been dealing with the guitar. It’s the guitar here… You know, in a way I’m glad the guitar gets a bigger reaction than the ‘I’m surrounded by killers’ joke. It’s the guitar, and by God, uh, tonight she’s going back to work. Dave [Keuning, lead guitarist of the Killers]It’s all yours, sir. So now, to enshrine Warren in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it’ll be the Killers. Congratulations, Warren. Thanks for everything. Enjoy every sandwich.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction was followed by two weeks of a much longer tribute to Zevon, the four-hour, 30-plus song concert “Warren Zevon: Join Me in LA,” produced to benefit the Wild Honey organization at the United Theater on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Performers on that show included its original producer Jackson Browne and longtime co-writer Calderon, veteran session musicians Rick Marotta, Bob Glaub and Leland Sklar, and admirers such as Dwight Yoakam, Shooter Jennings and Fountains of Wayne. (See a review of this show here and read interviews with Jordan Zevon, Calderon and some of the other participants here.)
