One of the more moving moments at this weekend’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony came when chatshow king David Letterman took to the stage to honour his friend, the late American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon.
Zevon was a regular guest on Letterman’s late-night shows, and made an emotional final appearance shortly before his death, in 2003, aged just 56.
“It was the last time I saw Warren - that was 22 years ago,” said Letterman during his speech. He reflected on Zevon’s advice - knowing his time was short - to “enjoy every sandwich,” and recalled how, after that final show, he followed Zevon to his dressing room.
“He’s got the guitar there that he’s used every time he’s appeared on our show,” remembered Letterman. “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 flippies on a guitar case. He closes the guitar case, he hands it to me and he says ‘take care of this for me.”
Overcome with emotion, Letterman says that he started to sob. “Warren and I hugged, and I said ‘Warren, I just love your music.’”
But that isn’t quite the end of the story, because the guitar in question - a Modulus Graphite model, we believe - was sitting right there in front of Letterman on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame stage.
“This is the guitar and tonight, by God, it’s going back to work,” he said, before handing it to Dave Keuning, lead guitarist with The Killers, so he could play it during the band’s performance of Zevon favourite Lawyers, Guns and Money alongside Waddy Wachtell, his close collaborator.
Zevon was honoured with the Musical Influence Award at the ceremony, with hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa - who performed on the night - receiving the same honour. Musical Excellence inductees were Philly soul supremo Thom Bell, session pianist Nicky Hopkins and bass legend Carol Kaye. The Ahmet Ertegun Award went to producer and music industry executive Lenny Waronker.
The regular inductees were Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and The White Stripes, who were honoured with performances from Olivia Rodrigo and Feist and Twenty One Pilots. There was also a tribute to Sly Stone, who died earlier this year, that featured Stevie Wonder, Flea, Beck, Maxwell and Jennifer Hudson.
You can catch up with the full ceremony on Disney+.
