Justin Timberlake Will Welcome Jimmy Fallon To ‘The Tonight Show’

Justin Timberlake is just one of the many famous faces scheduled to welcome Jimmy Fallon to The Tonight Show next week.

Since the pair have collaborated several times in the past, it’s not altogether surprising that Fallon tapped Timberlake to help break in the Tonight Show set. However, the singer isn’t the only big name who’s slatd to appear during Fallon’s first week on the job.

In addition to Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon is calling on such popular recording artists as U2, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, and Tim McGraw to ensure that ratings stay nice and plentiful during his debut. The new host is certainly pulling out all the stops.

If that isn’t enough to convince you to watch Fallon’s first week on The Tonight Show, then you should probably take a look at the other celebrities he has lined up. Will Smith, Bradley Cooper, Jerry Seinfeld, and First Lady Michelle Obama are presently on-deck to help him celebrate the new gig.

Here’s how the schedule shakes out.

Monday, February 17: Will Smith and musical guest U2.
Tuesday, February 18: Jerry Seinfeld, Kristen Wiig and musical guest Lady Gaga.
Wednesday, February 19: Bradley Cooper and musical guest Tim McGraw.
Thursday, February 20: Michelle Obama, Will Ferrell and musical guest Arcade Fire.
Friday, February 21: Justin Timberlake.

While most people might have a few butterflies knocking around inside their bellies before taking on such a high-profile position, Jimmy Fallon doesn’t seem too worried about tackling The Tonight Show. He recently told Billboard that NBC executives have essentially stayed out of his way while he prepared for the debut.

The new host explained:

“No one tells me [to do] anything — they see what we’ve done with our show. At one point, they said I couldn’t host the Emmys: ‘No one will watch if you host it. You have too young of an audience.’ We hosted the Emmys and did what we normally do on our show. Its ratings were up from the year before. With ‘The Tonight Show,’ they’re kind of just letting me do it.”

Since Fallon has a good rapport with Justin Timberlake and the other guests he has lined up, chances are viewers will tune in to see how these folks welcome him to the show. There will definitely be a lot of eyes on Jimmy next week, especially since Jay Leno’s farewell generated some very impressive ratings.

Are you looking forward to catching Justin Timberlake on The Tonight Show? Do you think Jimmy Fallon is the right person to take the reins?