Warren Zevon (Musician, 1947-2003)
Singer-songwriter Warren Zevon was the product of a Mormon mother and a Russian-Jewish father who was a professional gambler and moved his family around. Warren Zevon saw a slow start to his solo career in the 1960s, and he worked as a songwriter for the Everly Brothers and Linda Ronstadt. But after spending some time in Spain, he returned to the United States in the 1970s where he met and collaborated with Jackson Browne, the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt. A dark, ironic songwriter, Warren Zevon’s most well-known release is 1978’s “Werewolves of London.” Later, he collaborated with musicians from such varied bands as Little Feat, Pink Floyd and Jefferson Airplane. He also worked with Jerry Garcia and Neil Young. Warren Zevon was close to several writers, including Hunter S. Thompson, Carl Hiassen and Mitch Albom, and was the musical coordinator for Rock Bottom Remainders, a group of writers who played rock and roll at book fairs and various public events, which included Stephen King, Amy Tan and Dave Barry.
Warren Zevon was afraid of and avoided doctors. After a long period of illness and pain, he visited his doctor and was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He refused treatment that might debilitate him and instead focused his energy and efforts on completing his album The Wind, which posthumously won two Grammys—the first of Zevon’s career.
Warren Zevon never knew where he was exposed to asbestos. Because the exposure levels that can cause mesothelioma are quite low, some victims are never able to pinpoint the source of their exposure. On his 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene, however—fifteen years before his own diagnosis with mesothelioma—Warren Zevon wrote about the plight of an automotive worker in his song “The Factory,” recognizing the harm through exposure to asbestos, plastics and vinyl chloride that such work can cause.