On tonight’s episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, bandleader Kevin Eubanks announced that he was leaving the show in roughly six weeks. Jay Leno broke the news in tonight’s episode at the end of his popular “Headlines” segment.

The exact date of departing the show is on May 28th. He cites that after 18 years with the show, he wants to go out and venture into new territories.

Eubanks has been a staple throughout both of Leno’s tenures, helping create the atmosphere known throughout this late-night talk show. Eubanks states that after leading America into commercials for the past 18 years, he wants to “go finish a song”.

The crew behind The Tonight Show along with Leno himself are now aggressively at work to try and find a replacement bandleader in time. However, the new bandleader will have tremendously big shoes to fill.