Musician Warren Zevon died of lung cancer in 2003. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, David Letterman talks about Warren’s last appearance on the Late Show shortly before his death.
From the Rolling Stone interview:
The show you did with Warren Zevon, when he’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer and only had months to live: He’d been on many times. Was it a difficult show to do?
Oh, it was awful. Warren was so good about it. After the show, it was heartbreaking —he was in his dressing room, and we were talking and this and that. Here’s a guy who had months to live and we’re making small talk. And as we’re talking, he’s taking his guitar strap and hooking it, wrapping it around, then he puts the guitar into the case and he flips the snaps on the case and says, “Here, I want you to have this, take good care of it.” And I just started sobbing. He was giving me the guitar that he always used on the show. I felt like, “I can’t be in this movie, I didn’t get my lines.” That was very tough.
View video of Warren Zevon’s last appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman below.
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Part 4