Last night, at the annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, the late Warren Zevon was posthumously honored with the Musical Influence Award by his longtime friend and former late-night TV host David Letterman. After a tribute reel featuring words from Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and more about the impact of Zevon’s music, Letterman turned the microphone over to the Killers, who played the 1978 cut “Lawyers, Guns and Money” to honor Zevon. Watch a replay of those moments below.
“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. Actually, his own wing,” said Letterman. He then revealed an old guitar onstage that was gifted to him by Zevon after his final performance, explaining, “So that night, with Warren on the show [22 years ago]… he’s got a guitar there that he’s used every time he’s appeared on our show. And as we’re chatting, he picks up the guitar and he puts it in the guitar case. And then he flips up those two little guitar clippies on a guitar case. How long do I need to do this? He closes the guitar case, he hands it to me and he says, ‘Take care of this for me.’ So in my head, I think I’ve seen this movie; I know what’s supposed to happen now, and sure as hell, it did happen. I started to sob uncontrollably. Warren and I hugged and I said, ‘Warren, I just love your music.’”
Upon finishing his emotional speech, Letterman handed that very guitar to Dave Keuning, the Killers’ lead guitarist, and the rest of the band took the stage to cover Zevon’s song “Lawyers, Guns and Money” from the 1978 album Excitable Boy. Joining them for the special rendition was session guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who worked with Zevon on several recordings over the years.
This year’s other Rock Hall inductees are the White Stripes, OutKast, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden, Bad Company, Chubby Checker, and Joe Cocker, with Salt-N-Pepa also receiving the Musical Influence Award.
