When it was recently announced that Warren Zevon would be ing the 2025 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the Musical Influence Award, it felt both appropriate and like it was a long time coming. It was a long time coming for the Chicago-born and Los Angeles-bred singer-songwriter, who ed away in 2003 but had only received one prior nomination despite being eligible since the '80s. He'd never really had mainstream name value, but deeply influenced musicians ranging from Bob Dylan to Bonnie Raitt over the years of his career.

As a result, to see Zevon chosen for the Musical Influence Award feels more fitting to the type of artistic legacy he left behind. It's an unusual route by which to get to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but unusual has always been Zevon in a nutshell. The lyrical styling in the stories of his songs includes headless, vengeful mercenaries, obscure cattle disease, werewolves, Civil War renegades, foreign diplomats, bad example con artists, and someone who desperately needs lawyers, guns, and money. Unusual was just the beginning from the beginning in the catalog definition of Warren Zevon.

12 Tule's Blues (1970)

A Country-Folk Lament

Warren Zevon's debut album was 1970's Wanted Dead or Alive, though the record largely went unnoticed in its time, had poor reviews, and was reportedly hated by Zevon himself. But that wasn't to say Wanted Dead or Alive was without any merit, especially as an early time capsule to the talent Zevon would grow into as his career continued.

That especially proves true for the song "Tule's Blues," which seems to speak to the trials and tribulations Zevon was having in his relationship with Marilyn "Tule" Livingston (mother to his son Jordan). The Wanted Dead or Alive version is a swinging country-folk tune that hides most of its sadness beneath a waltz reminiscent of a much later Zevon song called "Heartache Spoken Here." A solo piano version issued as a bonus track on a re-release of 1978's Excitable Boy shows more of the song's vulnerability beneath the poker face.

Regardless of the take on the track that you prefer, though, "Tule's Blues" shows that even early on, Zevon had a keen knack for the lovelorn humanity of emotion. This would only begin to scratch the very lightest surface of how good Zevon would be at writing from this frame of mind throughout his career.

11 Hasten Down The Wind (1976)

The ion Of Parting

Look no further than the lyricist Zevon was six years later on his self-titled major label debut with the song "Hasten Down the Wind." Often fully regarded by Zevon as his actual debut instead of Wanted Dead or Alive, it was hard to argue with that logic, given that this LP produced Zevon classics like "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," "Mohammed's Radio," and "Carmelita." But it was "Hasten Down the Wind" that might have had the quietest yet most masterful impact.

Later also covered by renowned singer Linda Ronstadt, the song took the idea of a breaking relationship presented by "Tule's Blues" and brought the feeling of that separation to the uncomfortable forefront. It's impossible to avert your ears just listening to the poignancy of a woman telling the man she's with that she can't be with him anymore, only to waver at the last moment and reconsider. But at this point, the man realizes their parting is for the best, and that he's got to let her go.

It's impossible to avert your ears just listening to the poignancy of a woman telling the man she's with that she can't be with him anymore, only to waver at the last moment and reconsider.

These words, plus the lightly traced country-rock instrumentation, convey longing, sadness, heartbreak, and so much more that's left implied and unspoken. "Hasten Down The Wind" shows just how well Zevon operated within the terrestrial poetic paint box. That, however, wasn't to say he didn't do just as well being poetic outside the box, too.

10 Lawyers, Guns And Money (1978)

An Ode To The Chaotic

"Lawyers, Guns and Money" is one of the boundless examples of Warren Zevon writing songs at a creative level that is truly signature in scope. While the sound and scale of much of Zevon's instrumentation was inspired by the country folk-rock and singer-songwriter ethos that was so typical of the Southern California sound of the '70s, the lyrics of Zevon were what elevated him from just another creative to a voice of signature proportions.

While Zevon's 1978 album Excitable Boy is forever known as the LP that spawned his unlikely novelty hit "Werewolves of London," the Jackson Browne-produced album also contained much more wildly unbalanced breakouts. Take the title track, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner," for instance, or "Lawyers, Guns and Money." "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is an almost manic rocker that seems to portray someone getting into a conflict overseas, and needing to call their father to help bail them out of a jam.

The picture of the track feels like a rich kid or diplomat's son who makes a few wrong decisions and winds up on the wrong side of some bad people, hiding out so they don't get their legs broken. There's a dark humor to it all that only a few certain songwriters like Zevon could ever get away with portraying convincingly. Ultimately, however, it works so well.

9 Empty-Handed Heart (1980)

The Emotional Well's Duet

While the wry humor of Zevon certainly continued and was even present in the title of his 1980 album Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School, it was once again the twilight shine of his heartbreak that glowed the brightest on the LP. It might not be as quickly appreciated as some of his other works, but Zevon's Linda Ronstadt-featuring ballad "Empty-Handed Heart" has a sentimental heart that's almost magnetic in how downcast the feeling of it is.

It was once again the twilight shine of his heartbreak that glowed the brightest on the LP.

The musician wrote "Empty-Handed Heart" as a rumination about his wife, Crystal, who'd had to divorce Zevon by this point due to his erratic and sometimes violent behavior brought on by drug and alcohol addiction. Zevon had begun trying to clean up his act, but had to live with the sadness and loss brought on by the consequences of his actions. The song is an endearing listen, though a difficult one with evident feelings of pain on the surface.

8 The Envoy (1982)

Some Current Event Style Storytelling

While Zevon's 1982 album "The Envoy" was largely considered a critical and commercial flop, much like Wanted Dead or Alive many years before, it wasn't without highlights that made perfect sense inside of Zevon's catalog. "The Hula Hula Boys" is more trademark Zevon wit, while "Let Nothing Come Between You" adds another notable chapter in his storied ability to craft a tender-minded ballad. The title track, however, arguably comes out of this set as the most interesting construction.

Based on American diplomat Philip Habib's shuttle diplomacy during the 1982 Lebanon War, Zevon crafts an almost Mission Impossible-esque secret agent-feeling affair built around a thick, '80s rock churn. The sound brings to mind an Eastern European bloc vibe, only bringing the narrative closer and closer to life. It's again that type of unlikely storyline most listeners probably can't imagine a musician coming up with, but that's what made Zevon what he was.

7 Reconsider Me (1987)

An Underrated Love Song

The 1987 Sentimental Hygiene period continued to represent what was often gospel from throughout Zevon's career. While his records weren't exactly attracting broad mainstream chart attention, his musical peers recognized his influential talents and wanted to collaborate. How else do you get Neil Young playing lead guitar on this album's title track, or Bob Dylan on the harmonica for the song "Factory" - or the band of rock group R.E.M. (minus lead singer Michael Stipe) acting as the backing band for all of Sentimental Hygiene?

They all saw something more in Zevon's creative breakthroughs, understated as they may have been. Take "Reconsider Me," for instance, which is another fabled entry in the musician's troubled rapport with relationships in ballad form. This time around, Zevon is gently trying to get a lover to try again to make their partnership work, saying he'd be there if they called for him. "Reconsider Me" makes you believe in a kinder, gentler Zevon emerging here.

6 Splendid Isolation (1989)

An Absorbed Self-Portrait

Zevon's 1989 LP Transverse City was a strangely conceptual statement with futuristic undertones ruminating on topics including technology, the downfall of humanity, and the commercialization of society. The album was another star-studded affair of contributions from musicians like the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell, and noted jazz musician Chick Corea.

The message of Transverse City largely fell flat on the listening audience, but there were lasting tracks from the record that continue to stick out. "Splendid Isolation" took on the idea of the world's growing narcissism, creating a society largely more interested in isolating within the self than in communing with others. In a pre-social media age, "Splendid Isolation" is a setting that arguably feels even more appropriate and accurate now than it did in 1989.

5 Searching For A Heart (1991)

A Romantic Life Rumination

Zevon seemed to embrace all that made him successful with the release of 1991's Mr. Bad Example. There was his usual biting wit on "Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead" and the con-man polka of the title track, as well as the unafraid-to-get-uncomfortable rocker in "Finishing Touches" and "Angel Dressed in Black." That well-honed gentler earnestness was also on display, especially when it came to one of Zevon's best closing tracks in "Searching for a Heart."

The musician is again in the position of a lovelorn romantic in the song, wanting a new connection and tentatively reaching for it, but also feeling hesitant to do so based on past experiences. "Searching for a Heart" also contains quite possibly one of the best lyrical lines on the concept of love, stating that, "you can't start it like a car, you can't stop it with a gun." There's a simplicity to that, but it's also deeply profound in the way that made Zevon so great.

4 The Indifference Of Heaven (1995)

Gray Skies Of The Blues

A record produced by Zevon himself, 1995's Mutineer felt like a closer, intimate portrait of a rebel reminiscing on the sands of time ing him by, while still not losing his knack and wit for observation while doing so. There are still plenty of oddball Zevon moments, like on the tracks "Something Bad Happened to a Clown" and "Rottweiler Blues," but as he aged, it felt like the musician was starting to look back on life with wistful sentimentality.

Mutineer felt like a closer, intimate portrait of a rebel reminiscing on the sands of time ing him by, while still not losing his knack and wit for observation while doing so.

The song "The Indifference of Heaven" seems to embrace this the most fully, illustrating the common struggles and sadness of regular people moving like chess pieces throughout their lives. Zevon namedrops musicians Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel in the song, along with their romantic partners at the time. The mention seems to imply that, while Zevon has created a world that embraces the stories of regular people, much like Joel and Springsteen, there isn't their shared optimism between the lines. That doesn't live around here.

3 Don't Let Us Get Sick (2000)

A Redemption's Prayer

Much like 1995's Mutineer, 2000's Life'll Kill Ya felt like Zevon embracing his more small-scale niche of popularity. The LP is also upfront and intimate, while still utilizing all the hallmarks that gave the musician a loyal following. The topic of death also seemed to crop up in greater and greater measure. Zevon hadn't been a stranger to such topics throughout his career, but with age seemed to come more and more thoughts about what his end might look like.

The closing track, "Don't Let Us Get Sick," almost seemed like a prophetic look ahead at the mesothelioma illness that would eventually claim Zevon's life in 2003. Looking deeper between the lines and the simple build here of acoustic guitar and Zevon's voice, however, shows that "Don't Let Us Get Sick" is more of a prayer. It's an acknowledgment that the world can be a sad, bad, and awful place, but with a hope behind it that we can still get by and get through together, and safely okay.