2. Warren Zevon, Musician (1947-2003)
Warren Zevon was a unique singer and songwriter with a cult-like following, known best for his hits “Werewolves of London,” “Excitable Boy,” “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” He produced his final album “The Wind,” shortly after his mesothelioma diagnosis in 2002, recording songs with other rockers of his era: Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh, Jackson Brown and Tom Petty. Warren Zevon was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in 2002 but refused treatment, as he was bound to record The Wind, his final album. His last performance took place on October 30, 2002, as the sole guest on The Late Show with David Letterman, where the musician also discussed his battle with cancer.
His son, Jordan Zevon, has become a spokesman for the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). Although Zevon never said where his asbestos exposure was, Jordan has speculated that it came from his father’s childhood when his dad regularly played in the attic of his father’s carpet store in Arizona.
Shortly after his death in 2004, he was nominated for five Grammy Awards, and he won two, one of them with Springsteen for Best Rock Performance By A Duo.
Zevon was quite frank about his disease, and he talked about it in his last television appearance on “Late Show with David Letterman.” Here is a clip from that last appearance.