Conan O'Brien

Born on April 4, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts, Conan O'Brien entered the world as the third of six children and would go on to build a career as a writer, comedian, and talk show host. After earning valedictorian honors at Brookline High School, he launched his writing efforts through the school newspaper, then matriculated at Harvard University in 1981 to focus on history and literature, where he joined the staff of the esteemed humor magazine The Harvard Lampoon. He contributed to the publication across four straight years and twice won election as its president before graduating Magna Cum Laude. His initial television writing position came with the HBO comedy series Not Necessarily the News, followed in 1987 by a writer role at Saturday Night Live and, in 1991, a move to The Simpsons as both writer and producer. When David Letterman departed NBC’s late-night slot in 1993 for another network, O’Brien received the unexpected offer to host the replacement program despite limited performing background, leading to the September 13, 1993, premiere of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Though the series began slowly, O’Brien’s unconventional comic approach gradually cultivated a loyal audience. In 2004 Jay Leno disclosed plans to exit NBC’s flagship The Tonight Show in 2009, prompting the network to designate O’Brien as successor; however, Leno reversed course in 2009, resulting in a new 10:00 p.m. program for him while O’Brien’s edition of The Tonight Show occupied the traditional 11:35 p.m. slot. The arrangement faltered sharply in the ratings, and early in 2010 NBC terminated Leno’s show, restored him to The Tonight Show, and released O’Brien from his contract—an outcome that ignited widespread controversy in entertainment media. O’Brien’s supporters, soon known as “Team Coco,” voiced strong backing, prompting him to mount the personal-appearance series The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, whose title alluded to the contractual window barring him from starting a new program. Long interested in music—he performed with the Harvard rock group the Bad Clams—the host had occasionally played guitar alongside television guests such as Bruce Springsteen and Lou Reed, yet the tour afforded fresh chances to display his guitar proficiency at the helm of an ensemble drawn from his show’s studio band. One stop occurred at Jack White’s Third Man Records shop in Nashville, Tennessee, where the White Stripes frontman sat in for several songs, among them a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.” The performance was captured for a vinyl LP issued on White’s Third Man label, which also released a spoken-word single of O’Brien improvising a horror story and conversing with White. When O’Brien’s next talk show, titled Conan and carried on the TBS cable network, launched on October 11, 2010, White appeared as its first musical guest and reunited onstage with him for “Twenty Flight Rock.”