Jimmy Fallon announced his first Tonight Show guests and also spoke about his predecessor Jay Leno at a special Television Critics Association press conference on Jan. 18.

Fallon will be taking over for Leno on Feb. 17, which is when the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon premieres. For his first night on the show, the 39-year-old TV host has invited Will Smith, and will feature U2 for the musical guest.

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Fallon, who currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, has had Smith on his show before but this will be his first time hosting Irish rock band U2.

While speaking about Leno, Fallon referenced the period when The Tonight Show took the 11:30 p.m. slot causing Conan O'Brien's show to be pushed further.

"After the Jay-Conan stuff, I called Jay and told him: 'I want to let you know that I'm not gunning for your position. I'm very happy at 11:37 PM, I'm here in New York and ... very happy at my job," he said. "When you decide to step down, [I hope] it's done the right way. We talked every two weeks. One day he called me and said, 'I think this is going to be the year, and I'd love you be the next guy'."

Lenon also had some advice for Fallon, specifically regarding the monologue. "People are busy, work hard, they may have missed the news, so you have to give them a complete view of the news," Fallon relayed what Leno had told him.

Fallon believes this will definitely not be the last of Leno that audiences will see. "The more Jay, the better," he said. "Maybe he can be the new detective on The Blacklist."

Watch a clip of Fallon hosting the Late Night show:

Tags
Jimmy Fallon, Tonight show, Jay Leno, Will Smith, U2