Max Weinberg May Leave Conan For Leno

It looks as if Max Weinberg isn’t going to follow Conan to wherever he ends up. Instead, Weinberg recently made statements to Leno about joining the new Tonight Show as the bandleader, to replace Kevin Eubanks when he leaves the show. Conan’s old staff never really loved Weinberg and he is not part of the upcoming Conan comedy tour. NBC did not offer a comment, but back in August, Weinberg explained what the post as “bandleader of the Tonight Show” would mean to him saying, “I think one of the biggest thrills in my life was seeing my name in the same sentence as Doc Severinsen, who, in my view, is the gold standard for Tonight Show bandleaders. There’s never been anyone who did it quite near the class and the brilliance of Doc Severinsen in the original Tonight Show Band. I used to think when I was a kid what a great job that must be you know, same place, every time, everyday. Lo and behold, here I am 40 years later, doing it. That sounds deep, deep, deep, deep, deeply satisfying to me.”