Iconic rock band U2 and actor/former-rapper Will Smith will be the first guests on the newly revamped “Tonight Show” when Jimmy Fallon makes his hosting debut on Feb. 17, NBC announced.
U2 will be the musical guest while Will Smith will be the premiere episode’s first interviewee.
NBC officially named Fallon the show’s new host last April. “Saturday Night Live “alum Seth Meyers will take over as host of Late Night on Feb. 24.
U2 are in the process of finishing up a new album with Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) at the helm slated for released this April. U2’s longtime manager Paul McGuinness, who was just named Billboard’s 2014 Industry Icon, said in an extensive interview that he had, “heard most of the new album, and it’s absolutely amazing. They’re creatively ambitious….”
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The 22-time Grammy Award winning band, whose last album was 2009’s “No Line on the Horizon,” was just nominated for an Academy Award and recently won its second Golden Globe Award for best original song for “Ordinary Love,” from the film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”
Will Smith was twice nominated for an Oscar (“Ali,” “The Pursuit of Happyness”) and has won four Grammy Awards. Smith will next star in Warner Bros.’ “Focus.”
NBC released a teaser for the new version of the late night staple on Jan. 4 (above) that featured an archive clip tour of the late night show’s prior hosts (including a brief shot of short-lived Tonight host Conan O’Brien) and a narration pledging a “new era” when Fallon takes the reins from current host Jay Leno.
In mid-December, NBC unveiled a new logo for the Fallon-hosted version of Tonight, which will be moving the production from Burbank to New York.