Jimmy Fallon 'Late Night' Farewell Featuring The Muppets Draws Record Views [VIDEO]
Jimmy Fallon walked off the set of his Late Night show with a warm farewell featuring The Muppets on Feb. 7.
The 39-year-old comic and TV show host, who is now gearing up to fill Jay Leno's shoes on The Tonight Show starting Feb. 17, gave a stellar performance with the motley crew with a cover of The Band's The Weight. Fallon, who has often used his musical prowess to entertain audiences on the show, took on drummer duties as he led the song. The Muppets joined in on the chorus and later on got to belt out their own solo bits on other verses.
At the end of the song, which closed the show, Fallon exited stage left and went through backstage passage to another door which was labelled The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. As he pushed open the door, a whole bunch of people were seen giving him a cheery welcome.
Fallon's last show with Late Night has been reported as drawing the highest number of views in the history of the show as 6.6 million people tuned in that night.
For his first night on The Tonight Show, Fallon has invited Will Smith, and will feature U2 for the musical guest.
Fallon, has had Smith on his Late Night show before but this would be his first time hosting Irish rock band U2.
While speaking about taking the reins from Leno at a TV Critics Association Press Conference, 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'."
Leno 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.
Watch the farewell clip featuring The Muppets here:
