Kevin Eubanks Leaving Tonight Show (Eventually); John Melendez Out As Announcer
Jay Leno‘s longtime bandleader and sidekick Kevin Eubanks will be leaving the Tonight Show, but will still be with the show when it returns March 1.
This story went through several incarnations over the past 24 hours – but it now appears more changes are on the way.
The article that got the most attention was EXTRA‘s, which confirmed a report from K-EARTH101.com. But in the 2pmET hour on MSNBC, entertainment reporter Courtney Hazlett shot the story down, saying, “Kevin is happy, Jay is happy. They’ll be working together.”
And since it’s all under the NBCU umbrella, it sounded like the story was over. But later that day the story reemerged in several outlets, including the New York Times:
Mr. Eubanks has told colleagues on the show that he will definitely leave his post as leader of what will be a reconstituted “Tonight Show” band (after its brief run as the “Prime Time Band” on Mr. Leno’s 10 p.m. weeknight show) after an interim transition period starting March 1.
And there was a new NBC statement:
Kevin has expressed interest in pursuing personal touring and recording opportunities; however, he will be with the show when it returns.
While EXTRA floated Darius Rucker as a replacement (“Hootie” of Hootie and the Blowfish), while EW.com’s Ken Tucker is endorsing Randy Newman.
But that’s not all! James Hibberd is reporting John Melendez is ending his run as announcer, although staying on as writer. So pretty soon, there will be two new job openings. The new Tonight Show is shaping up to be more different from the old Tonight Show than The Jay Leno Show was.
And on that note – here’s the new Tonight Show logo circulating around the web today (one size fits all unfortunately so far). It’s dark, like the clouds above the new incarnation:
> Update: Variety’s Michael Schneider has more background on the logo.
