Max Weinberg splits with Conan O’Brien

The bandleader and late-night host go their separate ways after 17 years.

O’Brien will make his much-anticipated return to television on November 8 without Weinberg, the lame joke-cracking drummer who has been with the comedian since he became the host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993. He followed O’Brien to his short-lived stint as the host of the Tonight Show, but left periodically throughout his television career to tour with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. After the Tonight Show debacle, Weinberg formed Max Weinberg Big Band and went on tour. Jimmy Vivino, the Late Night band’s mustachioed guitar player, will take over Weinberg’s duties as bandleader.