Singer Warren Zevon Dying From Cancer

Singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, best known for quirky hits like "Werewolves in London," has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

"I'm OK with it," Zevon, 55, said in a statement. "But it'll be a drag if I don't make it until the next James Bond movie comes out."

Zevon's more than three-decades long career began with "Wanted Dead or Alive" in 1969. His 1976 album, "Warren Zevon," produced by Jackson Browne, won critical praise, and his career soared with 1978's "Excitable Boy," featuring the single "Werewolves of London," which became his signature song.

He ended a five-year recording absence in 2000 with "Life'll Kill Ya."

Spokeswoman Diana Baron said Zevon, who was told of the diagnosis by doctors last month, is spending time with his grown children, as well as writing and recording. He'll be in the recording studio next week, she said.

Rhino Records will release "Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon" on Oct. 15.

Zevon's most recent album, "My Ride's Here," released this year, features contributions from Irish poet Paul Muldoon, journalist Hunter S. Thompson and author Carl Hiaasen, as well as a cameo from talk-show host David Letterman.