Speculation as to why bandleader Max Weinberg decided not to follow Conan O’Brien to TBS can end now: the drummer decided not to move to L.A. following open-heart surgery this year, reports Fancast.
The lifelong Jersey boy says he just couldn’t pull up stakes in his home state at age 59 for a new life in Los Angeles, though he did follow Conan there for his short-lived stint as host of "The Tonight Show" on NBC — a gig which abruptly came to an end last January.
The famed drummer — a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band since 1974 (since Springsteen’s third album, “Born to Run”) and a fixture in late-night TV as Conan’s musical director (and sometime comic foil) for 17 years — revealed for the first time that he underwent life-saving open-heart surgery just two weeks after the demise of Conan’s "Tonight Show" last winter and how this “life-changing” experience influenced his decision to stay put on the East Coast.
