Report: Conan O'Brien, Max Weinberg part ways

Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television tour has been delighting audiences with all the usual players like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Andy Richter, and of course, Conan himself. The only person who hasn't joined the party is O'Brien's long-time bandleader, Max Weinberg.

His absence from the tour has sparked rumors that Weinberg doesn't plan to join O'Brien's TBS show when it premieres in November.

In an interview with CityPages, music legend Al Kooper said that Weinberg and O'Brien have parted ways. "That's a name you can't say anymore," Kooper said when O'Brien was brought up. "He's not in that band anymore. They let him go. This is a big transition, and they're all signing new contracts and everything so they replaced him, as far as I know."

Movieline reported earlier this month that Weinberg met with Jay Leno to discuss the possiblity of returning to "The Tonight Show" bandleader Kevin Eubanks, who's leaving this month. Those rumors didn't pan out -- the show hired "American Idol" music director Rickey Minor as Eubanks' replacement -- but Kooper also notes that there was a "lotta conflict" between Weinberg's work with O'Brien and his other steady gig as Bruce Springsteen's drummer.

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