Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He is the father of former Slipknot and Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jay Weinberg.
Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey and began drumming at an early age. He attended college planning to be a lawyer but got his big break in music in 1974 when he won an audition to become the drummer for Springsteen. Weinberg became a mainstay of Springsteen's long concert performances. Springsteen dissolved the band in 1989, and Weinberg spent several years considering a law career and trying the business end of the music industry before deciding he wanted to continue with drumming.
In 1993, Weinberg got the role as bandleader of the Max Weinberg 7 for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Weinberg's drums-driven jump blues sound and his role as a comic foil prospered along with the show, giving him a second career. In 1999, Springsteen re-formed the E Street Band for a series of tours and albums; Weinberg worked out an arrangement that allowed him to play with both O'Brien and Springsteen. In 2009, Weinberg moved to the short-lived Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien as leader of Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band. Upon that program's conclusion, Weinberg declined to follow O'Brien to the new Conan show. Weinberg has continued playing with Springsteen, and in 2014 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
Early life
Weinberg was born on April 13, 1951, to a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, to parents Bertram Weinberg, an attorney, and Ruth Weinberg, a high school physical education teacher.
Weinberg was exposed to music early on, attending Broadway shows weekly from the age of two and liking the big sound put forth by the pit orchestras. Weinberg received a child's conga drum from his father after he watched a TV show featuring bandleader Xavier Cugat. In a 2020 article in The Wall Street Journal, Weinberg described the drum as having a "... a real calfskin head and a white strap. I played it all over the house."
Weinberg has also acknowledged the Ventures as a major influence on him in a TV interview in 1988 to celebrate that band's 30th anniversary and he actually sat in on drums during the performances.
Weinberg started playing at the age of six. He grew to idolize drummer Buddy Rich and saw drummer Ed Shaughnessy of Doc Severinsen's band on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as having an ideal job Weinberg graduated from Columbia High in 1969. Another band he was in, Blackstone, recorded an eponymous album for Epic Records in 1970. His general goal was to become a lawyer, in reference to Ginger Baker's reputation for long drum solos. Weinberg auditioned with Springsteen and the core E Street Band in mid-late August of that year bringing a minimalist drum kit with him consisting only of hi-hats, a snare drum and a bass drum.
thumb|240px|right|During his tenure with the [[E Street Band, Weinberg's gaze remains locked on Springsteen throughout each show. |alt=Middle-aged man with glasses wearing a dark shirt sits behind a drum kit on a riser with his right hand and stick about to hit a snare drum; he his looking directly at another middle-aged man in front of and slightly to the left of him, dressed in dark clothes with an electric guitar strapped to him, left hand on the frets, right hand flying away after playing a chord, eyes shut in an expression of conveying musical intensity of some kind]]
Weinberg rose to success as the drummer for Springsteen's E Street Band, as his powerful yet controlled beat While travelling on tour, Weinberg became known for his exact requests, such as specifying the particular brand of paper towels to use for his drums or the standards for his hotel rooms. Weinberg never adopted the "rock and roll lifestyle"; he treated his music seriously and kept to the mantra, "Show up, do a good job, and give them more than their money's worth." Weinberg started a long practice of keeping his eyes on Springsteen every moment during the show, even when Springsteen was behind the stage, as he never knew when Springsteen would change a tempo or suddenly deviate from the set list. Weinberg bought a house overlooking the water in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, triggering a lifelong interest in real estate and home design.
Tempos slowed to an oft dirge-like pace on Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978); rehearsals and recording of the album stretched out over a long period, with Springsteen and bandmate and co-producer Steven Van Zandt experiencing a prolonged frustration over their inability to capture a more resonant drum sound. Weinberg soon regretted not playing faster on "Badlands", and tempos did speed up on that number and some others during the accompanying Darkness Tour. He did later say that "It was a ballsy thing to play a single stroke roll through the entirety of 'Candy's Room and that it was the kind of choice a session musician never would have tried. What could pass unnoticed in concert became apparent on record, and Weinberg practiced drumming components for months in order to regain a fine sense of timing. Weinberg also suffered from repetitive stress injury and tendinitis, eventually requiring seven operations on his hands and wrists. Springsteen and the E Street Band's shows that opened New Jersey's Meadowlands Arena in 1981 as part of the River Tour became one of the highlights of Weinberg's career. Weinberg married Rebecca Schick, a Methodist who had grown up in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, and whom he had met through a mutual friend. Springsteen and the band played at their wedding, which was officiated by the same rabbi that Weinberg had while growing up.
In 1984, they bought a farm in Monmouth County; after feeling taken advantage of in the deal, Weinberg became a scrupulous researcher in real estate matters, often spending days at town halls looking over obscure zoning regulations. that also owed something to the popular Phil Collins drum sound. Weinberg's own experimentation since the Darkness days had also led to a more reverberant sound. Springsteen later said of the album, "Max was the best thing on the record." The recording then descends into improvised chaos; Springsteen had told Weinberg, "When I stop, keep the drums going."
On the subsequent Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Springsteen generally interspersed hard-rocking song sequences after every three or four numbers in order to give Weinberg's hands a chance to recover. Weinberg's wife Becky unintentionally triggered one of the tour's most celebrated episodes. She was a fan of the This Week with David Brinkley television program and invited panelist George Will to the Washington-area Capital Centre show. The book captured drummers revealing more about their musical approaches than they normally did to the press and was thus considered an important addition to the rock literature. but the full band was in place for the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express and Human Rights Now! tours. Weinberg called the latter tour's visiting of many third-world countries around the globe one of the most rewarding things the band had done.
Weinberg also played as a session musician, enjoying particular success in connection with songwriter and producer Jim Steinman. He drummed on the 1977 Meat Loaf album, Bat Out of Hell, playing on the Steinman-penned tracks "Bat Out of Hell", "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" and "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". At a point in 1983, Weinberg was featured on the number one and number two songs on the Billboard Hot 100, Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", As Weinberg later said, "That's why they call him the Boss." He graduated from there later in 1989. but withdrew after six weeks. In 1991, they issued an album that he produced by a group he formed, Killer Joe, called Scene of the Crime.
He looked through the Yellow Pages for jobs and played at bar mitzvahs for $125; O'Brien later said of the Weinberg choice, "The energy and enthusiasm of his music coincided with the show I wanted to do. Plus, his tan offset my ghostly complexion." The band got a 30-second featured spot each night after O'Brien's opening monologue. O'Brien often received poor notices during the early years of Late Night, and Jon Pareles of The New York Times pronounced the Max Weinberg 7 as the "saving grace" of the show. Recaps in 1998 of the first five years of Late Night concluded that the band had been an important element in the show surviving, with Weinberg's personality providing a foil to O'Brien's and with "the Max Weinberg 7 [leaving] television viewers wishing they were in the studio to hear more." Their sound also fit into the swing revival going on during the late 1990s. Weinberg continued to present an obvious visual foil: as O'Brien said, "If you looked at this guy you would never know he was the drummer in a huge rock 'n' roll band. You would say he was the guy who did the band's accounting. But Max is the authoritative, buttoned-down adult in the midst of all this madness." Weinberg continued his one-man college shows, now titled E Street to Late Night: Dreams Found, Lost, and Found Again.
Weinberg returned to the E Street Band briefly when Springsteen re-grouped the band in early 1995 to record a few new songs for the Greatest Hits release. The regrouping was only temporary and the band returned to inactivity.
The Max Weinberg 7 released a self-titled album in 2000 on Hip-O Records; He was especially proud that the band had successfully backed Tony Bennett during a late 1990s appearance on Late Night: "Two years ago if you'd asked me if I could play with Tony Bennett, I would have said absolutely not. I'm not in his league. But we played with him the other night, and it was wonderful. We swung." Indeed, up until then Weinberg had never missed a Late Night show, appearing in over 1,000 in a row.
While Weinberg did not forget the breakup and long separation, When the tour concluded with ten shows at New York's Madison Square Garden, on several days Weinberg taped the Conan show at Rockefeller Center in the late afternoon, put his hands in ice and changed from his suit into jeans and a vest, and played with Springsteen at night. The experience of doing both left him "professionally speaking, as alive as I've ever felt." Of his position on the drum platform behind Springsteen, he says, "I have the best seat in the house." His daughter Ali joined the band on keyboards several times during the tour. Weinberg took more time off from the Conan show to participate in the long and successful 2002–2003 Rising Tour. In the early 2000s, Weinberg was at the center of annual holiday benefit shows at Asbury Park Convention Hall, billed as Bruce Springsteen, the Max Weinberg 7 and Friends. and won a conservation award in 2002. Some of his neighbors strongly protested the move, and they and some in the press accused him of hypocrisy; Weinberg defended himself by saying the conservation foundation was not against all development, just thoughtless development.
Springsteen himself also made appearances on Late Night in 1999, 2002, and 2006. Weinberg participated in the 2004 Vote for Change tour then drummed on Springsteen's 2007 album Magic. There, he was part of a core rhythm section comprising himself, Springsteen, bassist Garry Tallent, and pianist Roy Bittan, who did the tracks first; other members' contributions were added later. Weinberg then took more time off from the Conan show to do the 2007–2008 Magic Tour. O'Brien told a Variety reporter at the time of the announcement that he hoped that Weinberg would follow him to Los Angeles and that he also hoped an arrangement could be worked out to let Weinberg go on the road with Springsteen as had been done for past tours.
Nevertheless, O'Brien confirmed on February 18, 2009, that Weinberg and the band were indeed coming with him. Weinberg had not missed an E Street Band show since joining the outfit in 1974, and E Streeter Van Zandt said that no amount of rehearsal by another drummer could replace Weinberg's "intuitive understanding" of Springsteen's performance gambits. Springsteen said, "Once again, I want to express my appreciation to Conan O'Brien, and everyone on his team, for making it possible for Max to continue to do double duty for both us and for him. We promise to return him in one piece." The younger Weinberg began playing during segments of the tour's shows, and got a very positive response from audiences and reviewers as a spark plug for the band. Max Weinberg said Jay's segments allowed him a "total out-of-body experience. For the first time in – I've been with Bruce for 35 years – I've been able to go out in the audience and enjoy a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert." In one case, Jay did one show of a two-night stand on the East Coast and Max then took a red-eye flight back from Los Angeles to do the second.
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien premiered on June 1, 2009, with the Max Weinberg 7 now expanded to eight and referred to as Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band. Andy Richter was back as an announcer, On June 25, Weinberg departed The Tonight Show temporarily for four weeks to join Springsteen and band part-way through their European leg; this was conveyed on the show via a comedy bit that had his drum riser turn into a float that took him outside the studio and purportedly to the airport. Weinberg returned to the show on August 3, after flying back from a Springsteen show that had ended early into the same morning in Spain. Of being Tonight Show bandleader, he said, "I think one of the biggest thrills in my life was seeing my name in the same sentence as Doc Severinsen, who, in my view, is the gold standard for 'Tonight Show' bandleaders. There's never been anyone who did it quite near the class and the brilliance of Doc Severinsen in the original Tonight Show Band. I used to think when I was a kid what a great job that must be – you know, same place, every time, everyday. Lo and behold, here I am 40 years later, doing it. That sounds deep, deep, deep, deep, deeply satisfying to me." Weinberg was left to concentrate on his bandleader role.
Even though Weinberg was living in Los Angeles for The Tonight Show, he retained his home in New Jersey and considered that his permanent residence: "I'm not really moving. I'm living out here, but it's more like an extended road trip." finishing with Weinberg propelling a guest-filled seriocomic rendition of "Free Bird". While O'Brien negotiated a settlement deal with NBC for himself and his staff, Weinberg as well as Richter had to reach their own agreements with the network.
Departure from O'Brien and start of own bands
In February 2010, Weinberg underwent a twelve-hour open heart valve repair surgery to correct a condition he had known about and had been monitoring since the mid-1980s. His recovery took place over three to five months, and Weinberg kept news about the operation private until an interview eight months later. (except for a brief appearance at one show). Instead, he assembled and staged appearances by the Max Weinberg Big Band, a fifteen-piece ensemble with twelve horns that mostly plays the music of Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich, Count Basie, and Maynard Ferguson. as no specifics had been worked out for that show while O'Brien focused on his tour. In June 2010, the Max Weinberg Big Band Tour began with a show in Red Bank, New Jersey's Count Basie Theater. The split was stated as being mutual, with O'Brien saying, "Max has been a huge part of my life for the past 17 years and he is an incredible bandleader and musician," and Weinberg thanking his band and saying, "17 years – a lifetime on TV ... my association with Conan, his staff, and crew has been a deeply rewarding experience for me." The issue was still ongoing in 2014. Meanwhile, he continued to play in a jazz idiom on his own, now with the Max Weinberg Quintet. In late October 2014, Weinberg sat in for a surprise guest appearance on Conan. In early 2015, Weinberg received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, New Jersey, in recognition of his volunteering in association with multiple local groups; he said he was humbled to be accepting an award that focused on tikkun olam.
Weinberg once again hit the road with Springsteen and the E Street Band for the River Tour in January 2016, which in its various phases lasted until February 2017. He appreciated the shows on the first leg of the tour, where they played the entire 20-song The River album in sequence, because "when you play something night after night you really get to dig into the material, just as an instrumentalist."
Once the tour was over, Weinberg said he would continue to appear with his various own bands, including doing weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs just as he had earlier in his career.
Equipment
For many years, Weinberg's gear included Slingerland Drums, Ludwig, Pearl Drums and Zildjian cymbals; His setup has always been simple, mostly consisting of a snare drum, mounted tom, bass drum and floor tom, while his usual cymbal setup consists of two crash cymbals, a ride cymbal and a pair of hi-hats, with an occasional third crash: "I've got four drums. Anything more is redundant. Besides, I tend to trip over things."
Personal life
As of July 2020, Weinberg and his wife Becky live in Delray Beach, Florida.
Weinberg's son Jay became a drummer as a teenager for local punk rock and metal bands without much instruction from his father but using Max's old gear. , Ali is a foreign affairs producer for the PBS News Hour. Weinberg played drums on the first album recorded by his sister Nancy Winston, a professional pianist and singer in New York City, known for her regular appearances at Cafe Pierre.
Tours with Bruce Springsteen
- Born to Run tours, 1974–1977
- Darkness Tour, 1978–1979
- The River Tour, 1980–1981
- Born in the U.S.A. Tour, 1984–1985
- Tunnel of Love Express Tour, 1988
- Human Rights Now! Amnesty International Tour, 1988
- Reunion Tour, 1999–2000
- The Rising Tour, 2002–2003
- Vote for Change Tour, 2004
- Magic Tour, 2007–2008
- Working on a Dream Tour, 2009
- Wrecking Ball World Tour, 2012–2013
- High Hopes Tour, 2014
- River Tour/Oceania '17, 2016–2017
- Springsteen and E Street Band 2023–2025 Tour, 2023–2025