Conan O’Brien might have had an acrimonious falling out with NBC after they effectively canned his Tonight Show, but the bloke has contacts and sure can pull out the big guns to make a point. The one time university roommate of Galaxie 500’s Dean Wareham obviously only had to make a quick call to reel in Neil Young to perform on the last episode of his show.
Young, who rarely speaks to the media and would consider appearing on a TV show way beneath him, appeared as O’Brien’s musical guest to close the final show. O’Brien negotiated a $45 million payout from the network and also couldn’t resist a swipe at the network by playing a clip that used the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction – which cost the network $1.5 million in royalties and may indeed cost more should Mick Jagger brief his lawyers on chasing a bit more wedge to add to the massive pile he already has.
Neil Young on the Tonight Show
