Josh Groban

Singer-songwriter Josh Groban feels downright giddy about being Conan O’Brien’s friend. Josh sits down with Conan to discuss his breakout moment at 16 singing with Céline Dion at the Grammys, finding ways to exercise his comedic inclinations, and asking his dad to play trumpet on his latest album Cinematic. Plus, Conan comes face to face with his character’s real-life toy from the upcoming Toy Story 5. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (323) 362-2295.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Was it, do you shop for the kids or do you shop for Tac?

• 0:06Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 0:07Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 0:07Speaker 01

  Or Oki.

• 0:08Conan O'Brien?

  You gotta get them your stuff.

• 0:08Speaker 01

  Or my dog.

• 0:09Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that, you smell that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 0:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:19Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. A little early to buy a turkey. Doesn't matter. Holidays? I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get ahead, start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 0:56Conan O'Brien?

  One in four Americans targeted by scams ended up falling for them.

• 0:59Speaker 01

  I did.

• 1:00Conan O'Brien?

  For me, it would be four out of four. Did you fall for a scam?

• 1:01Speaker 01

  I fell for a scam once.

• 1:03Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:04Speaker 01

  They didn't steal much.

• 1:05Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, still, you got taken for a ride. And you just put it out there that you're easy to scam.

• 1:09Speaker 01

  I am.

• 1:10Conan O'Brien?

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• 1:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, I need this.

• 1:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you do need it. You need it fast. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 1:44Speaker 02

  Hi, my name is Josh Groban and I feel

• 1:49Speaker 02

  downright giddy about being Conan O'Brien's friend.

• 1:51Conan O'Brien?

  Now, that's the right attitude.

• 1:53Speaker 02

  That is. It's an honor.

• 1:54Conan O'Brien?

  No, it's not. But giddy is appropriate.

• 1:57Speaker 02

  It's a giddy honor.

• 2:19Conan O'Brien?

  Hey there, welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, sitting here with Sona Mufassian, Matt Gourley.

• 2:25Speaker 02

  Hi.

• 2:25Conan O'Brien?

  And Sona and I are just back from Morocco.

• 2:30Speaker 02

  Oh, that's funny, I didn't see you guys there.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 2:32Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, really, were you there?

• 2:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm just there on my own, yeah.

• 2:35Conan O'Brien?

  Walking around.

• 2:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 2:37Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, that makes sense. Um, no, we, uh, we were shooting an episode of, uh, the travel series, Conan O'Brien Must Go, and, um, we, Sona, you were kind enough to come with me.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:50Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, because, um, actually, something came up on this podcast, you, uh, expressed a desire to get a certain product.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  Argon oil.

• 2:58Conan O'Brien?

  Argon oil.

• 2:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:00Conan O'Brien?

  And, um, and so I decided, I'm gonna get you that Argon oil by taking you to Morocco.

• 3:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:06Speaker 02

  Is it a spoiler to say if you got the oil?

• 3:08Conan O'Brien?

  We can't say anything.

• 3:08Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 3:09Conan O'Brien?

  We can't say anything.

• 3:10Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 3:10Conan O'Brien?

  What we can tell you-

• 3:11Speaker 01

  We're gonna tune in for that?

• 3:12Speaker 02

  It wasn't like the Ark of the Covenant, I mean, you could probably get this pretty-

• 3:16Speaker 01

  It's very readily available there.

• 3:18Conan O'Brien?

  Apparently, it's also readily available here.

• 3:21Speaker 02

  Ah, you got scammed!

• 3:24Conan O'Brien?

  I got scammed, uh, we, as we were like in the market, hunting down the Argon oil, someone said, you know-

• 3:31Speaker 02

  I need some English coffee.

• 3:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you can, yeah, you can get this, you know, on Amazon, and it will come from the same store that you found, but anyway, that ruins the magic of travel. So, uh, but we had, well, tell me what you thought, Sona.

• 3:46Speaker 01

  Oh, I had so much fun, I hadn't, you know, I used to travel-

• 3:49Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 3:50Speaker 01

  When you'd do the travel shows-

• 3:51Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 3:51Speaker 01

  And I forgot how, it's a lot of work.

• 3:53Conan O'Brien?

  It's a lot of work, yeah.

• 3:54Speaker 01

  It is a lot of work.

• 3:55Speaker 02

  You guys seem a little tired. Are you tired?

• 3:57Speaker 01

  I woke up at two thirty this morning. I'm trying to go back to sleep.

• 4:00Conan O'Brien?

  Because I was east for a while for other things. So I was on that time and then we went to Morocco.

• 4:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:08Conan O'Brien?

  And so I haven't been on LA time in quite a while.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:13Conan O'Brien?

  So, yeah, I've been waking up at like three in the morning and like cleaning out cupboards.

• 4:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:18Conan O'Brien?

  Like I'll do, when I wake up and it's pitch black outside and I know I'm up, I just start doing tasks that I would never do otherwise. Like I'll build a urinal, you know? First I'll fire the porcelain. I mean, I'll do all these crazy things because I think you have that, you're revving. You want to be useful. You want to get something done. So, yeah, I've been, actually mostly what I've been doing is organizing things that I haven't organized in a long time. I mean, just, and my wife was away, so I was alone. It's me, the dogs and the cats and then just, they hear me in the garage banging away.

• 4:54Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 4:55Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's weird.

• 4:55Speaker 01

  Productive? I'm not productive.

• 4:57Conan O'Brien?

  What did you do?

• 4:57Speaker 01

  I just watched clips of shows I like.

• 4:59Conan O'Brien?

  Oh.

• 5:00Speaker 01

  And I just scroll on my phone in the bed. It's nice.

• 5:04Conan O'Brien?

  It's called doom scrolling.

• 5:05Speaker 01

  It's not doom because my algorithm's really fun. So it's like-

• 5:09Speaker 02

  What's your algorithm?

• 5:10Speaker 01

  My algorithm's a lot of just silly, it's like, you know, silly humor. It's a lot of really funny stuff. I don't know how to describe it. And then every once in a while, it's like, takes me to a really dark kind of place on Instagram and then-

• 5:24Speaker 02

  Like what?

• 5:25Speaker 01

  I don't know. There's just like-

• 5:26Conan O'Brien?

  Like what's dark for you?

• 5:30Speaker 01

  I, I can't, I don't know. Sometimes I'm just like, how did this end up here? I can't, I can't think of-

• 5:35Speaker 02

  This would be a real good example if you had an example.

• 5:38Speaker 01

  It would be so good if I had an example for you.

• 5:41Conan O'Brien?

  Like street fights, that kind of thing?

• 5:42Speaker 01

  I just get a lot of fights. I do get a lot of fights, a lot of brawls and fights and I love them.

• 5:47Speaker 02

  That's your love language.

• 5:48Speaker 01

  I love them. I know. And they make me, they fire me up. Like they get me really intense. Like, I don't know if you guys get that same, no, no, just me. Okay. You like watching fights? I love it. Sometimes I revisit fights I like.

• 6:02Conan O'Brien?

  Clip recently that's been going around, this has been going around of- Which is sort of tangential to this, but this clip's been going around that they unveil this robot and the robot comes out. It's one of these really impressive, you know, latest model robots and it's coming out, it's doing all these cool moves and spinning and stuff like that. And all these families are around watching it, like applauding. And then it spins around and it kicks this little kid really hard in the stomach and the kid doubles over and then kind of collapses. And I think the kid's okay. I hope the kid's okay. Is this real? Yeah, it's real, I think. I'm pretty sure it's real. And then the robot sort of stands up and then just starts to step back, retreat. And I've thought, does that robot feel shame?

• 6:47Conan O'Brien?

  Is it possible it feels shame? Oh, man. And I was, because I'm a human, I was reading in, oh, that robot just must feel so much shame right now. And then I realized, it doesn't, no, it doesn't. There's no way the robot's like, oh, I fucked up. That's darker than the street fights.

• 6:59Speaker 01

  I know, but we don't want it to feel shame.

• 7:01Conan O'Brien?

  Robot kicks boy in the stomach?

• 7:03Speaker 02

  It came up, yeah.

• 7:04Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, I don't want to see this. Yeah, yeah. No, it's not. The kid's okay. And I think the kid might have needed a kicking. You never know. I don't want to bum people out, but I think it's okay.

• 7:13Speaker 01

  I know, it's not, it's not funny, right?

• 7:15Conan O'Brien?

  Is this, hold on. Yes. Look, so the, here's the guy, he's like, ha, ha, ha, ha. Boink.

• 7:20Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 7:21Conan O'Brien?

  Jesus. Yeah.

• 7:23Speaker 01

  Oh, no, that's awful.

• 7:25Conan O'Brien?

  Okay. And look at the robot, it's like, oh. Oh, no. Must destroy to save oneself. Yeah.

• 7:31Speaker 01

  Oh, my god.

• 7:31Conan O'Brien?

  So, anyway. Oh, my god.

• 7:33Speaker 01

  That kid is standing out a little too far.

• 7:36Conan O'Brien?

  What's that?

• 7:36Speaker 01

  That kid is, asked for it. Yeah, he asked for it.

• 7:39Speaker 02

  Well, you said he had it coming. You're victim blaming.

• 7:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  You guys' algorithm is turning you guys into monsters.

• 7:44Conan O'Brien?

  I, um, yeah, I said, go robot. That was my comment that I wrote in.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  Oh, no, you shouldn't be standing. Do you remember when we were, I don't know if we should mention this, when we were in Armenia?

• 7:55Conan O'Brien?

  Probably not.

• 7:55Speaker 01

  And there was a guy doing donuts?

• 7:58Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 7:58Speaker 01

  And there was a perimeter of people around.

• 8:00Conan O'Brien?

  We're in Yerevan, capital of Armenia. We're there for five minutes when we hear all this noise and excitement and we go to this big square where all these people are packed around watching. And there's a guy in the middle who's accelerating really fast in a car doing donuts and everyone's just, it doesn't seem like an official performance. I think a guy was just doing donuts and everyone came to watch the guy do donuts. Because it's one o'clock and it's time for donuts. And everyone's, but there's no barrier between the people and the car. And the guy doesn't really, he's not a professional. He doesn't know what he's doing. And then at one point he swings around and I think he hit a bunch of people.

• 8:34Speaker 01

  He hit people with his car.

• 8:36Conan O'Brien?

  I think they were okay.

• 8:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:38Conan O'Brien?

  And I don't think people, you know, here everyone will be like, okay, get everyone's number and everyone's gonna sue everyone. There they're just like, ah, that's what happens.

• 8:45Speaker 01

  Shake it off, we're good. Get back around the perimeter. Get back to donuts. It was crazy. Yeah, it didn't make the show that we were shooting, but it was.

• 8:54Speaker 03

  Oh, no.

• 8:55Conan O'Brien?

  No.

• 8:56Speaker 03

  You didn't know what it was that?

• 8:57Conan O'Brien?

  We are opening with the robot kicking the Chinese boy. I'm gonna put it at the top of the show. Well, what was your reaction to that? I mean, I don't know. First of all, I saw that thing, it got sent to me. Instagram thought, Conan's gonna love a Chinese robot kicking a kid in the stomach, which I don't endorse.

• 9:13Speaker 03

  But now that you've probably watched it more than once, it's gonna think that's what you want is robots kicking kids.

• 9:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:19Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I can. I guess I'll just have to, I made my bed and I have to lie in it.

• 9:32Conan O'Brien?

  It'd be great if all my feet was robots attacking children. And me watching for hours on end laughing.

• 9:38Speaker 03

  Now that you've said it out loud, it probably will be.

• 9:41Conan O'Brien?

  All right then. All righty then, remember that when that was a big thing? All righty then.

• 9:45Speaker 01

  Around the Ace Ventura, that was cool.

• 9:47Conan O'Brien?

  I'm just trying to.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  That was about thirty, thirty years ago.

• 9:49Conan O'Brien?

  It was over seventy years ago.

• 9:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:50Conan O'Brien?

  I just looked it up.

• 9:52Speaker 01

  You can still do it.

• 9:53Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, let's get into it.

• 9:53Speaker 01

  Okay, let's do it. We should do it.

• 9:55Conan O'Brien?

  You're not crisp with any of that. You dribble a little bit.

• 9:58Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah, you should go.

• 9:58Conan O'Brien?

  Well, anyway, so that's a.

• 10:00Speaker 01

  Intro and go.

• 10:01Conan O'Brien?

  Well, anyway, right, Sona?

• 10:02Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 10:03Conan O'Brien?

  My guest today.

• 10:03Speaker 01

  I got that one.

• 10:05Conan O'Brien?

  Right, Sona? My guest today is a Tony.

• 10:06Speaker 03

  Do you have a thought like when we might want to end this podcast?

• 10:09Conan O'Brien?

  I think it's coming up real soon.

• 10:11Speaker 01

  Completely?

• 10:11Conan O'Brien?

  It's coming up real soon.

• 10:12Speaker 03

  Because it's gonna be taken away if we don't end it ourselves.

• 10:15Conan O'Brien?

  If we can't use this responsibly.

• 10:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:17Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna take it away.

• 10:18Speaker 01

  And intro.

• 10:20Conan O'Brien?

  Thanks, Sona. My guest today is a Tony, Emmy and Grammy nominated singer songwriter. His new album Cinematic is a tribute to the silver screen and it's out now. I am so happy he's here today. He's a funny, lovely fellow.

• 10:39Conan O'Brien?

  Josh Groban, welcome.

• 10:44Conan O'Brien?

  Josh, I am so thrilled you're here.

• 10:46Speaker 02

  Conan, it's my pleasure.

• 10:47Conan O'Brien?

  We have had a connection over the years.

• 10:48Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 10:49Conan O'Brien?

  Because as a very young man, you came on my late night show.

• 10:54Speaker 02

  I did.

• 10:54Conan O'Brien?

  And I thought, this kid is very talented, but also really funny.

• 10:58Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 10:58Conan O'Brien?

  And you were sweet, and I thought, I don't think he's gonna make it. Hmm. Uh, but wouldn't it be nice if he did? And I think I, remember I said that to you.

• 11:08Speaker 02

  It's what you led with.

• 11:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 11:09Speaker 02

  Uh, so I, I.

• 11:10Conan O'Brien?

  My next guest probably won't make it.

• 11:12Speaker 02

  You really like to keep me on, on edge. Yeah, I was, I was nervous already, but that really threw me.

• 11:16Conan O'Brien?

  You've had this brilliant career, and you remain a really nice person and a really funny person.

• 11:20Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 11:20Conan O'Brien?

  Which leads me to my next topic of discussion, which is not long ago, I was tasked with hosting the Oscars. Uh, and I remember we had this idea, there needed to be someone who could sing this, you know, sing my tribute in, and immediately, I think two of us at the same time said, wouldn't it be great if Josh Groban would do it? And I remembered having to thought, oh my God, Josh Groban, if he doesn't do it, I don't know that we can do this piece, cuz that's the best person to do it. And I know that whoever, if you weren't available, cuz I, we knew that you were touring.

• 11:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, who was the second choice?

• 12:01Conan O'Brien?

  This is not gonna make you happy, but it was comedian Patton Oswalt.

• 12:05Speaker 02

  Patton Oswalt, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 12:07Conan O'Brien?

  No, apparently he's had a terrible voice.

• 12:08Speaker 02

  I'm imagining him in the night gear right now.

• 12:11Conan O'Brien?

  No, there was, this, that's just it. There was no second choice. There was no second choice. And I know that if we'd found someone, I'd have been mad the whole time that it wasn't you, and probably tanked the piece. So, we reached out to you, we found out that you might be amenable, we should have a conversation, and the next thing you know, I'm on a Zoom with you, and you're in Tokyo.

• 12:31Speaker 02

  I was in Tokyo.

• 12:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  There is no cooler experience than being in Tokyo, first of all, to begin with, and then having a Zoom with you about doing this bit. Nothing will top this.

• 12:40Conan O'Brien?

  Well, here's the weird thing, too. I thought, I remember we got on the Zoom, and I said, you must be on tour, and Josh said, no, they have the best sex toys here.

• 12:48Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 12:49Conan O'Brien?

  And this is where I like to shop for my sex toys. And then, for 20 minutes, you were showing me these-

• 12:55Speaker 02

  Oh, I had a bag. I had two Trader Joe's bags, full of dildos-

• 13:00Conan O'Brien?

  And my god.

• 13:01Speaker 02

  -and suction cups and tassels. No, no, no, let me continue.

• 13:06Speaker 02

  No, it was really, it was like tourism for me.

• 13:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, the thing is, no one builds shit like the Japanese.

• 13:12Speaker 02

  True.

• 13:13Conan O'Brien?

  But you kept turning them on, and they were like-

• 13:15Speaker 02

  They had lights?

• 13:16Conan O'Brien?

  Lot of robotics. Yeah, lot of robotics. And-

• 13:20Speaker 02

  One of them had a song similar to the one you wanted me to sing.

• 13:24Speaker 02

  So I kinda said, like, you know, "Like this."

• 13:29Conan O'Brien?

  But anyway, we had this, so the next thing you know, we're rehearsing. You killed it. We do it at the Oscars. You were great. And then here's a weird thing about show business. You killed it, and people really liked the piece, and people were so happy that suddenly you're there. I love anyone who's legitimizing a completely illegitimate piece of comedy. So the fact that you were a part of it, with your amazing voice, but you're singing these incredibly stupid lyrics about how I'm the greatest ever. And it's over, but from my perspective, I'm on top of a mountain, holding on to a fake falcon, and being pulled off the stage, and I waved to you, and you kind of waved back,

• 14:11Conan O'Brien?

  and you go left, and I go right, and then I'm into the show, and I never see you again.

• 14:16Speaker 02

  I know.

• 14:17Conan O'Brien?

  And it's weird, because I know that if I had been watching that, I'd think, oh, cool, now Conan and Josh Groban get to hang out backstage and trade old horse-

• 14:24Speaker 02

  Go to the lounge.

• 14:25Conan O'Brien?

  Go to the lounge. No, I don't see you anymore. Yeah. So much of TV is bits over, and then you're off to Belgium to do a concert, and, you know, I'm off, I don't know where I go, but-

• 14:38Speaker 02

  To sleep for a week.

• 14:40Conan O'Brien?

  I did, I did sleep for a week.

• 14:42Speaker 02

  I knew, though, going into it, that, I mean, if I could see you even for a second, that would be great. Because your responsibilities on a night like that, leading up to it, and then on the night, and you make it look easy. I mean, it really was, I was happy that this was scheduled on the calendar so we could catch up.

• 14:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yes. This is the only reason I'm having you. The only reason, and first of all, this will never, no one will ever hear this. There's no tape in the machine, said the idiot who fundamentally didn't understand how things work. But it is really nice to get to talk to you.

• 15:12Speaker 02

  Same.

• 15:12Conan O'Brien?

  And I, uh, I was listening-

• 15:14Speaker 02

  After the wave, I mean.

• 15:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, after the wave, yeah. And, um, I was listening to the album you did, Cinematic, and it's all these different amazing movie songs, songs from great movies, and I was listening to, you sing the Godfather theme, and it has lyrics in Sicilian.

• 15:32Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 15:33Conan O'Brien?

  And I didn't realize that The Godfather had lyrics, the Godfather theme.

• 15:37Speaker 02

  Me neither.

• 15:38Conan O'Brien?

  And I was like, this is amazing, and I translated the lyrics, I used iTranslate, and it's just going over the plot of The Godfather.

• 15:47Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 15:49Speaker 01

  It was before The Godfather came out?

• 15:51Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, no, it came out at the same time as The Godfather. And no, but the lyrics are not imagi- they sound like such a beautiful song, but all the lyrics are, "You shouldn't let your wife in Italy start the car. She will blow up and her body will go real far."

• 16:06Speaker 02

  "Never sit with your back to a window." Yeah, it's, uh, yeah, it's, uh, you know, "Enjoy the clams, enjoy the clams."

• 16:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Incredible, uh, just really, really getting into the nitty gritty.

• 16:21Speaker 02

  Really, it is, yeah.

• 16:22Conan O'Brien?

  "There's going to be a sequel and you'll see it's pretty good. Watch number one and two, but three maybe, well, it's understood. Three's a mistake."

• 16:32Speaker 02

  Three's a mistake.

• 16:33Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 16:34Speaker 02

  I go up for that one.

• 16:34Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 16:37Conan O'Brien?

  But I was listening to it and, um, just, uh, Unchained Melody.

• 16:42Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 16:43Conan O'Brien?

  There's, I mean, there's a bunch of songs there, and also your Skyfall.

• 16:47Speaker 02

  Oh, thanks.

• 16:47Conan O'Brien?

  Is fantastic.

• 16:49Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 16:49Conan O'Brien?

  So I was listening to all these, and I was thinking, first of all, the musicians you have behind you, it's insane.

• 16:56Speaker 02

  Ninety, ninety pieces, ninety players in London at air studios, and singing in the room with them is like nothing else. There's so much about my job that is just isolated. You're in a hotel room, you're in a dressing room, you're in front of a microphone. To be in the room with them playing is like walking on a cloud. It's, because, you know, if you- mess up, they have to start again. If they mess up, you start again. And it's just a, it's an incredible experience to, to sing these melodies with them. And the Sicilian came because I, I was, I rehearsed it in Italian. There's an English language version, an Italian language and a Sicilian version.

• 17:28Conan O'Brien?

  Are you fluent in Italian?

• 17:30Speaker 02

  No, I, I learned these languages as a singer because I grew up learning these art songs and I would, I would sing in French and Italian and Spanish. I don't speak the language fluently, but I, but I learned them as I'm, of course, when I'm singing them. Uh, but I sent in a demo of the Italian version to Coppola and the team. He would be honored for the AFI lifetime achievement. And he asked me to do it for that.

• 17:50Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 17:50Speaker 02

  And I sent in a demo and I was really nervous and I worked like for two weeks on it. And then they sent me back a note saying like, oh no, no. Mr. Coppola would like it in Sicilian. And so that is when I realized that there was such a thing. Looked it up, there was, and um, yeah, you learn something new every day. It was beautiful though.

• 18:05Conan O'Brien?

  Did you ever, did you think ever for a second, you know, having your agent call and go, yeah, that's not happening. Coppola.

• 18:12Speaker 02

  Do you know what I mean? Cause I, I send that response back all the time, but it's about much smaller things.

• 18:17Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 18:18Speaker 02

  Yeah. Can Conan be there for the kid's birthday party at three? And I'll say, no, I can be there at 3:15. But I want my $200 upfront.

• 18:27Conan O'Brien?

  Just to throw your weight around.

• 18:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, just, yeah.

• 18:29Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, you want Sicilian? Now you get gibberish.

• 18:32Conan O'Brien?

  That's what you get.

• 18:33Speaker 02

  Cause what's really the difference?

• 18:34Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, what are you gonna say? No?

• 18:35Speaker 02

  Well, I'm sorry.

• 18:36Speaker 01

  Conan!

• 18:37Speaker 02

  I think all foreign languages are just gibberish.

• 18:40Speaker 01

  No, no, no.

• 18:41Speaker 02

  No? I'm sorry. I thought everyone spoke American.

• 18:47Speaker 01

  Oh my God, are we recording? Cancelled, cancelled. Are we recording this? No, we're uh, we're good.

• 18:52Speaker 02

  I'm pretty sure America was the first language.

• 18:56Speaker 01

  Oh boy.

• 18:56Speaker 02

  Said the idiot. And then everyone lost their way. Oh goodness.

• 19:02Conan O'Brien?

  So I want to talk about your origin story, cause it really fascinates me. When you're a kid, you obviously, you're like singing in your room. I think you're aware that you have this thing you can do, but you probably don't know what its value is or its merit.

• 19:16Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:17Conan O'Brien?

  And then you're 13 years old and you're in a choir.

• 19:21Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 19:22Conan O'Brien?

  And. Do I have this right? The choir teacher's like, "Uh, you in the back."

• 19:28Speaker 02

  Exactly right.

• 19:29Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, "Why don't you come forward? I want to hear you a little better."

• 19:33Speaker 02

  Well, what he did was, which all great teachers do, is he recognized that there was a student in his choir who really needed the push. I was not, I mean, I'm a ham on stage, but I'm like the most introvert on stage. And when I was a kid, I was really introverted. Had a really hard time making friends. My grades weren't great. I had ADD and didn't even know about it. So like, I was a little bit lost. And I was in the back of the class, and I was in the back of the choir. And I loved being part of it. But he heard, A, that there was a little bit of a talent there. I was, by the way, 13 years old. My voice still hadn't changed. So there was a talent there, but it was very, it was very high.

• 20:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 20:07Speaker 02

  So it was a real gamble for him to say, "I'm gonna put this kid in the front, and I'm gonna give him a song." And he gave me this song, "Swonderful," George Gershwin's song. "It's wonderful, it's wonderful." And, um, and I, and I sang it with all my might because it was an assignment. He knew that if he didn't give it to me as a class thing, that I would never do it for myself.

• 20:27Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 20:28Speaker 02

  So in, in pushing me to the front, he gifted me with a moment that changed, even if I hadn't gone into it professionally, a moment that changed my, my growth forever. You know, the kids, like, the next day were like, "Wow, man, that was..." You know, even the bully was like, "Bro."

• 20:43Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. I'm gonna still beat you senseless. But I'm gonna pause beforehand to compliment you on your incredible range.

• 20:50Speaker 02

  Voice of an angel, now get in that locker.

• 20:52Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Could you do it, wow. Could you do it yourself? I like this bully who just phones it in. Uh, "Get in that locker."

• 21:00Speaker 02

  Well, that's basically...

• 21:01Conan O'Brien?

  Can you pull your own underwear up so that it rides into your crack? Thanks a lot. What are you doing? I'm on Amazon.

• 21:06Speaker 02

  At least they had to do it in person back then. Now it's also anonymous online, you know? I didn't like it, but I respected it.

• 21:11Conan O'Brien?

  Bullies today Zoom people?

• 21:13Speaker 02

  Oh, they just phone it in.

• 21:14Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, oh, yeah, what's up? Thanks for taking... Yeah. Can you stick your face in a urinal?

• 21:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  Yes, sir.

• 21:29Conan O'Brien?

  You know, winning an award, that's a big achievement, right?

• 21:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, I love awards.

• 21:32Conan O'Brien?

  Every now and then in life, maybe something nice like that comes your way.

• 21:35Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:35Conan O'Brien?

  Winning them consistently is almost impossible. It just doesn't happen.

• 21:39Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:39Conan O'Brien?

  You know? Well, guess what? Winning five times in six years? You know what that sounds like to me? Sustained excellence.

• 21:46Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 21:47Conan O'Brien?

  Hyundai has done just that, earning the title of America's best SUV brand for 2026 from U.S. News and World Report. You are a very happy Hyundai driver.

• 21:55Speaker 01

  I drive a Hyundai Palisade, and I love my car. I love it. I love driving it around.

• 22:00Conan O'Brien?

  I've been tooling around in an Ioniq 5 N, which I love.

• 22:04Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:04Conan O'Brien?

  Beautiful car. Well, listen, whether you need an SUV for everyday life, your next big adventure, or extra room for family and friends, Hyundai has an option for you. The Tucson Hybrid is loaded with technology and built for everyday life. The Santa Fe Hybrid's fully capable and ready for adventure. The Palisade, that's yours, right?

• 22:19Speaker 01

  Hello!

• 22:20Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna rename that the Sona.

• 22:21Speaker 01

  It should!

• 22:23Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, delivers premium capability and class-leading interior space. With available, I have this memorized, H-Track all-wheel drive, up to an EPA-estimated 619 miles of range on vehicles like the Palisade Hybrid and Hyundai's industry-leading warranty. It's easy to see why Hyundai continues to deliver the quality, innovation, technology, and value drivers expect from an award-winning brand. View U.S. News Best Cars at cars.usnews.com and call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

• 22:53Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Was it, do you shop for the kids, or do you shop for Tac?

• 22:58Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 22:58Conan O'Brien?

  Okay. You gotta get them your stuff.

• 23:00Speaker 01

  Or Oki, or my dog.

• 23:00Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that, you smell that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 23:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:10Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. Little early to buy a turkey.

• 23:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:15Conan O'Brien?

  Doesn't matter. Holidays, I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want, even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get ahead, start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 23:46Conan O'Brien?

  Now Sona, clearly I'm a very important person to you.

• 23:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:49Conan O'Brien?

  Just accept the premise and we'll move ahead.

• 23:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 23:52Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a very important person to you. What would you get me from Macy's for the holidays?

• 23:57Speaker 01

  A vase.

• 23:59Conan O'Brien?

  No, I don't want a vase. I want something better.

• 24:01Speaker 01

  A jacket.

• 24:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, nice jacket. I love a nice jacket.

• 24:04Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, that jacket, nice jacket.

• 24:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, so now you have to do it, because you said you would.

• 24:07Speaker 01

  Aw man, I didn't know you were doing that.

• 24:09Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I know the holidays, I know the holidays are months away, but it's never too early, Sona, to find gifts that I will love, gifts I will wear, and surprises that make the season unforgettable for me.

• 24:21Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 24:21Conan O'Brien?

  Macy's Gift Guide makes holiday shopping easy with beauty favorites, stylish fashion, jewelry, cozy essentials, must-have toys, home upgrades, and picks for every person on your list. Coach handbags, Breville appliances, Lego UG, and more, all in one place so you can skip the scrolling and shop with confidence. Shop now in-store or online at macy's.com/giftguide.

• 24:49Conan O'Brien?

  I love stories where people figure it out. I'm also picturing the teacher, like, okay, let's, music teacher, okay. Yeah, you next. What is it, Jay Groban? Ja- ja- Josh? All right, let's hear it. Ahhh, you know. Their glasses shatter.

• 25:07Speaker 02

  What is his damn name, anyway?

• 25:10Conan O'Brien?

  It was, well... Okay, Pavarotti. Let's hear this guy. I gotta get to lunch.

• 25:16Speaker 02

  His name is, actually, his name is Richard Barrett, and I invite him to every concert that I do, because, because...

• 25:21Conan O'Brien?

  But still make him pay.

• 25:22Speaker 02

  I still...

• 25:24Conan O'Brien?

  That's a trick I like to do. Ah, my old comedy teacher. It's $700 for that seat.

• 25:30Speaker 02

  I'd like to offer you the opportunity to buy tickets to my new show. No, he's, uh, he was, he was not that guy. He was super, uh, you know, excited to teach, and still teaches. And, you know, not only did he pull me out from the back, but he knew that I liked to play piano. He knew that I was kind of gravitating towards the drum set in the back. So he's like, I'm gonna leave the music room open. So just whenever you need to go in, have an escape, get in there. And, you know, it, having access to all that just changed absolutely everything for me.

• 25:58Conan O'Brien?

  Do you have perfect pitch? Can you identify a note?

• 26:00Speaker 02

  Not, I don't have perfect, I can play by ear. If I listen to something, I can sit down at the piano and figure it out. I actually can't read music. Everything that I've learned how to play...

• 26:07Conan O'Brien?

  What?

• 26:08Speaker 02

  No, it's true.

• 26:08Conan O'Brien?

  That's the only reason you're here. What the hell? Adam.

• 26:13Speaker 02

  Our lesson's gonna be really disappointing.

• 26:15Conan O'Brien?

  This is where I push the button and you're ejected out of the Larchmont office. You land in a parked car.

• 26:22Speaker 02

  I parachute down in front of Noah's Bagels. Oh, man. Well, the good news is I can get a great lox and cream cheese.

• 26:29Conan O'Brien?

  You land, fracturing your pelvis, but immediately order a schmear on a poppy seed bagel. That's why I said schmear, Sonny.

• 26:36Speaker 02

  They come out with pickles, Conan, huh? Yeah, you know.

• 26:40Conan O'Brien?

  You probably found out you couldn't read music. Harrison Ford was here and I found out he couldn't read music and I ejected him.

• 26:47Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 26:48Conan O'Brien?

  So, so you're, you start singing and then you have this moment, another pivotal moment is you're 17. Someone introduces you to David Foster, a famous producer, arranger, and he asks you to do this thing at the Grammys. It's like you were a kid.

• 27:05Speaker 02

  It was so close together, like that the shy 13-year-old whose voice was on the brink of changing was 13. And then the call came in when I was 16.

• 27:14Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 27:14Speaker 02

  So, the time period between absolutely having no clue, wearing this coat that was so big on me, and getting this call to be part of something that was very professional.

• 27:23Conan O'Brien?

  It was something, a big, a big thing at the Grammys.

• 27:26Speaker 02

  David had heard me sing at a charity event that he asked me to do. Plucked out of high school, I sang a song from Phantom of the Opera. It was like the biggest day of my life, but I went back to class. I didn't think anything else would come from it. So, when he called me and he said, "I'm at the Grammys. I've written this song. It's called 'The Prayer.' It's for Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. And Bocelli is stuck on a tarmac in Germany. He can't be here in time for the rehearsals. Would you step in and would you sing this for Celine? With, with Celine until he shows up?" Do you mind? Do you mind?

• 27:51Conan O'Brien?

  Now, I, that's just insane.

• 27:52Speaker 01

  What?

• 27:53Speaker 02

  And I, being an idiot, I mean, really, 16 years old, I did not have stars in my eyes to be a solo artist. I was like, I was, I wanted to go to theater camp. I wanted to be, I wanted to worship the throne of Sondheim and I wanted to like, that's what I wanted to do. So, the idea of like, like the music business, being a singer with those kinds of people, I was only thinking, can I do this well or not? And even though I was the hugest fan of Celine, I said to him, "I don't think I'm the right person for this gig." I was so insecure. And Andrea Bocelli is like one of the great tenors of all time. And I was very much like living in my baritone world. I was not singing those very high notes. So I said, I think you can do better. I said, thank you so much for asking me. I'm really honored, but I, I think you can do better. And my mom yelled at me from downstairs. Of course, I'm still living at home. And she said, who is that? And I said, oh, that was David Foster.

• 28:38Speaker 02

  Oh, oh, what did he want? Well, it's this Grammy rehearsal, as it happens. And Celine Dion is there and Bocelli isn't. He asked me to, to come and sing. And well, what did you say? I said, well, obviously I said, I'm probably not the right person for the job. And they kind of went, oh, all right. Well, all right then. And I could tell they were disappointed. David Foster called me back and he said, I don't think you understood me. Get your ass to the shrine at Torium 3. He, nobody had turned him down before. So he said, get, get over here. He barely gave me a pass. My dad shows up with me at the side door. Security's like, who are you? I said, I'm here to sing with Celine Dion.

• 29:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Hi, I'm 17.

• 29:17Speaker 01

  I'm gonna sing with Celine.

• 29:18Speaker 02

  And this is my dad. And we're here for Celine Dion.

• 29:25Speaker 02

  Which way to the microphone? And, you know, and like, the security guard had to like walkie talkie. Another guy with a walkie talkie who, you know, and so on and so far. And against, finally, Ken Erlich, who produced the Grammys, came out and grabbed me. And, you know, it was just, I was so new to it that it was such another world. I didn't really permeate how important that moment was to be for me. I just wanted to do a good job. I didn't want to embarrass myself. Celine, of course, came out and then I realized how real it was. But the thing about Celine in that moment was she knew that David Foster was doing a thing. That this wasn't just a job. He, she knew because she'd been there at my age, that David was actually providing a door and an opportunity to prove myself.

• 30:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 30:06Speaker 02

  And that it was a lesson and that this was a, this was a moment. This was not just a rehearsal.

• 30:10Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 30:11Speaker 02

  And so she kind of like clocked it and she's like, oh, oh, got it. Josh, so nice to meet you. Kiss, kiss. Could see I was nervous and she made her sound check about making me comfortable. She grabbed my hand. She's like, we're gonna do this. And when you look at me and you have the Italian, then I'll sing the English. We got this. Just look at the prompter and look at the, you know, she was like, pep. Talking me out there and I know now that I've done a lot of sound checks for TV shows. I know how precious those you I mean, you know, from just doing.

• 30:36Conan O'Brien?

  You always get much like, oh, I'm sure.

• 30:39Speaker 02

  Such little time.

• 30:39Conan O'Brien?

  Allowances for Celine Dion in that. But I noticed that, you know.

• 30:44Speaker 02

  It's quick.

• 30:45Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, if you're doing the Oscars, the and it's only appropriate like Barbra Streisand, all the rehearsal time she needs. And then I'll say, I've got a thing where I I catch a fake giant bird on a mountain with Josh Groban. They're like, you've got eight seconds.

• 30:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's lunch. Yeah.

• 31:00Conan O'Brien?

  You have eight seconds to get it right and then get out of here.

• 31:04Speaker 02

  Who are you? A host? Got it. Yeah. It's it's quick. And so now that I know like that, and that was a big song that she was about to sing really hard. And that was a big moment. It was nominated for a Grammy, an Oscar. So the fact that she took her precious time when many superstars at that time would have looked at me as like, stand in singer. All right, do the best you can. Let's get through it. You know, I might not have decided that this business was for me had she been me.

• 31:28Conan O'Brien?

  Even though you were for rehearsal only, right?

• 31:31Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:31Conan O'Brien?

  And so.

• 31:32Speaker 02

  Well, Ken Erlich said to me after I rehearsed, you know, we're still looking to see if Bocelli can make his flight. So buy, go buy a suit in this lunch break. Go buy a suit. On their, I mean, this is, this feels so old timey, like this feels so like the old bit. Now you can Tik Tok yourself and get yourself on, you know, you can find an audience.

• 31:49Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 31:49Speaker 02

  But that idea of like, you know, the kid, the kid did OK. Go down to Men's Warehouse. There's one down the street and, you know, I've got a tailor. Here's his name. And, you know, it's, it was like. Like, got to get a suit. I looked at my dad and I said, I'm not like, I'm not, I can't do this on camera. Like, this is not, I'm not ready for this. Thankfully, Bocelli showed up. I got to meet him. He wound up doing the song and I got to have a really good story.

• 32:11Conan O'Brien?

  Did you get to tell Bocelli, eh, you were OK? I thought I nailed it.

• 32:16Speaker 02

  I was.

• 32:16Conan O'Brien?

  Cause he's a notoriously bad singer.

• 32:19Speaker 02

  No, I was just, I was so grateful that he was going to finally go out there and nail it. My dad did have a camcorder video of it and, you know, now, of course, you know that filming a sound check for something like the Grammys or the Oscars is just absolutely, no, no. And Celine saw that he was filming and the security said, you can't do that. And she said, no, no, no, let him, let him film that. Oh. That was, you know, it just was, she was the absolute best that day. And, you know, but, but then 10 years later, I got to sing that song on the Grammys with Bocelli. So we had like a, kind of a full circle and I've sung it with Celine a few times since then. So it was just, it's wild how those things. Do you remember your 16 year old get a suit moment?

• 32:55Conan O'Brien?

  Well, mine came later. Mine came when I was 48.

• 33:01Speaker 02

  Still involved a suit.

• 33:02Conan O'Brien?

  No, I do remember, I mean, the story I have that kind of lines up a little bit with that was obviously I had these other, all these other adventures beforehand, but when I, you know, living out here in LA and, and getting a chance to audition, to possibly be considered to be a late night host replacing David Letterman, which seemed insane. But I, they said, show up in Burbank at this time and I didn't have anything to wear. So Lisa Kudrow, who's, you know, my, my best friend at the time, she said, hey, let's, I'll take care of this. And she took me to Fred Segal and picked out a, the worst coat. And I'm sorry, Lisa, and we've talked about this before, but I'm a very pale person. I know now that I need to wear blue.

• 33:46Conan O'Brien?

  She was like, oh, this looks good. And it was this linen floppy jacket that was very, like almost pure white. Maybe a little off white. And so I put it in the back of my Taurus and some transmission fluid that was, it got on it and stained it. So I like turned the, and I walk out and I mean, people have, I think, looked up. You can look up the footage of me auditioning. I'm like, hey, everybody. And I've got the floppy hair and then I, you know, I look like I'm trying to pretend to be Don Johnson in Miami Vice. After he repaired a car.

• 34:19Speaker 02

  See the stain on the, on the.

• 34:19Conan O'Brien?

  I don't think you could, but, and so you don't just have one moment like that.

• 34:23Speaker 02

  Right.

• 34:24Conan O'Brien?

  You have, in my case, anyway, many of them and they continue.

• 34:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:28Conan O'Brien?

  You know?

• 34:28Speaker 02

  And, you know, they say luck is preparation means opportunity and, you know, these, these moments, these points of light continue. It wasn't just that moment. It's like, it's, I can think of that was a, that was a tent pole of a moment that I didn't know then, but. Domino effect happened after that.

• 34:43Conan O'Brien?

  Now, most people, I'm not most, but I'll say many, many people in your situation. That's where the self-medication starts. That's where alcohol, drugs.

• 34:56Conan O'Brien?

  People get into that kind of behavior for a reason. Because they feel like a lobster that's been shelled but is alive, you know? And, and everything's too, literally too raw. You didn't have that.

• 35:08Speaker 02

  Right. Well, that's where my sex tourism to Japan started. I will say. It's a, that was a somewhat

• 35:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 35:17Speaker 02

  less dangerous way to.

• 35:19Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, this is why I'm happy. That quote, if anyone missed the top.

• 35:23Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 35:24Conan O'Brien?

  That quote out of context is very, well, that's just bad news for you and your team.

• 35:28Speaker 02

  If this were in England, that would be the headline of the, of the Guardian.

• 35:32Conan O'Brien?

  Daily Mirror.

• 35:33Speaker 02

  Daily Mirror, yeah.

• 35:34Conan O'Brien?

  Wait a minute.

• 35:37Speaker 02

  No, but I, but I was, uh, I, you know, I battled all, I battled all this stuff. I had anxiety. I had depression. I had, you know? And, you know, I had, I had certain medication medications.

• 35:48Conan O'Brien?

  But you knew that you couldn't drink because of your voice.

• 35:50Speaker 02

  So the pressure of needing to sound really good out there.

• 35:53Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 35:53Speaker 02

  I think kept me from getting into dangerous territory because ultimately the feeling of not doing great out there was worse than how good any of that stuff might feel in the interim.

• 36:05Conan O'Brien?

  But can I just say heroin would not have affected your voice?

• 36:08Speaker 01

  Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

• 36:09Conan O'Brien?

  Does it affect your voice? Because if not, this is something we should explore.

• 36:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, no, no. No, you should not advocate for heroin. Is that what you're doing?

• 36:17Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I'm just saying.

• 36:18Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 36:19Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a little shocked that that wasn't proposed to you by your team.

• 36:23Speaker 02

  Just to take the edge off.

• 36:25Conan O'Brien?

  My team, Adam Sachs over there is constantly saying, you know, I don't think your comedy timing would be heard

• 36:31Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:32Conan O'Brien?

  by some of these, like a fentanyl or something. And I'm like.

• 36:35Speaker 01

  Oh, Jesus.

• 36:36Conan O'Brien?

  I'm telling you, Adam, there's not a day that goes by.

• 36:39Speaker 01

  Adam, what the fuck? Why? Come on.

• 36:42Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, he's not going on mic now.

• 36:45Speaker 01

  The mic is staying so far away from him.

• 36:47Conan O'Brien?

  He's got the, he just took the mic and buried a hole, dug a hole and buried it. I'm very glad you didn't get any of those drugs, which by the way, I think are very bad.

• 36:55Speaker 01

  Oh, good, good, good, good. I fixed it. Yeah, you did. You fixed it.

• 36:58Speaker 02

  My genre of music, though, my genre of music, though, was not like, I did not have that crew around me.

• 37:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 37:05Conan O'Brien?

  What about your roadies?

• 37:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's like.

• 37:07Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, man, you gotta bump the line.

• 37:09Speaker 02

  Man, hey, man. Raffae Maria was really killing. But hey, you seem a little tense.

• 37:14Conan O'Brien?

  I was with Van Halen, but now Groban, this is what I think you should do.

• 37:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. Musical theater's fine, but heroin's better. You know, it's like an episode of like, remember Cop Rock?

• 37:25Conan O'Brien?

  Sure, I remember Cop Rock.

• 37:27Speaker 02

  Everything I relate back to Cop Rock, just everything's a musical. I imagine like a guy, like guy in a trench coat going, you sang the high note, but here's some meth.

• 37:36Speaker 02

  I did not have that singing guy in the trench coat, like after my classical scales, saying like, you know.

• 37:41Conan O'Brien?

  It's fascinating to me that, um, I'm glad you brought this up because I have, I have gone, no, we're gonna get off the drugs, but more specifically into, into musical theater because, and musicals that I've always, to this day, I can never reconcile. I couldn't as a kid and I can't now as an old man. I can't reconcile the, what do you think we ought to do? I don't know, it's kinda tricky.

• 38:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, sure.

• 38:02Conan O'Brien?

  But maybe we should. I'm always like, what the hell happened? What is it?

• 38:07Speaker 02

  Takes you out of it.

• 38:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 38:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:08Conan O'Brien?

  And I'm, I'm, I'm always, I would love to be in a musical where someone does that and other people are, are, you know, what are you doing?

• 38:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, record, record scratch.

• 38:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, exactly, yeah.

• 38:18Speaker 02

  Well, there's two camps of people. There's, there's those that just think it's absolutely ridiculous and don't get it at all. You, perhaps Shalhoub.

• 38:27Speaker 02

  I'm not putting you both in the same, uh, you know.

• 38:29Conan O'Brien?

  Well, you know, I too am with a, I'm with one of the Kardashians as well.

• 38:36Speaker 02

  Why is that clown singing a high note? High note, ridiculous. And then those that are totally swept away. I was one of those kids that was totally swept, just totally swept away by it. And I, I, the combination of music and story and that you could break into a song and that, that the singing of that song would somehow tap into some deeper way of expressing the story.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:55Speaker 02

  Uh, I just, I suspended that disbelief.

• 38:57Conan O'Brien?

  I do make, uh, an exception for the, I'm obsessed with The Music Man and I'm obsessed with the You Got Trouble song. And I feel like I was put on this earth to do that. And someday in my life, I need to do it. Cause I, I, you know, and I wrote a Simpsons episode about it. And it's just something that I just, and, and then later was asked, uh, cause I know you've worked, uh, with the Hollywood Men's Gay Choir.

• 39:22Speaker 02

  Yes, that's right, Gay Men's Course of Los Angeles.

• 39:23Conan O'Brien?

  That's right.

• 39:24Speaker 02

  Gay Men's Course and, um, what did I say?

• 39:26Speaker 01

  You butchered the name of it.

• 39:28Speaker 02

  The Hollywood Gay.

• 39:29Conan O'Brien?

  The Hollywood.

• 39:29Speaker 02

  Foreign choir.

• 39:32Speaker 01

  What did you do?

• 39:33Conan O'Brien?

  I think they're, believe me, I've worked with them and their name is the Gay Hollywood. That's right. Choir that men frequent. That's what it's called.

• 39:42Speaker 02

  Frequent.

• 39:43Conan O'Brien?

  And guys, hello. But I got to, I got to work with them.

• 39:48Speaker 02

  Speaking directly to them.

• 39:50Speaker 01

  I know, wait, that's your camera.

• 39:51Speaker 03

  Look at right in the camera.

• 39:52Conan O'Brien?

  Gay Hollywood, hello, it's me.

• 39:56Conan O'Brien?

  David, I'm an ally.

• 39:59Conan O'Brien?

  I'm so out of control.

• 40:00Speaker 03

  You're unstoppable.

• 40:01Conan O'Brien?

  What do I say to you every day?

• 40:02Speaker 03

  He called me once, he'll always just text me ally, and once I was in the car with my boyfriend and he called me because he knew we were in the car and I answered and he just screams, ally.

• 40:13Speaker 01

  He's wrong with you.

• 40:14Conan O'Brien?

  Because then I can say later on, I went on record.

• 40:17Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 40:18Conan O'Brien?

  I'm just, I need to be stopped, I'm an ass, but.

• 40:23Conan O'Brien?

  They, I performed the troubles, not the trouble song, the monorail song, which was my version of it at the Hollywood Bowl for this Simpsons anniversary, which was.

• 40:33Speaker 02

  Classic.

• 40:34Conan O'Brien?

  One of my all time favorite moments in show business and they were absolutely fantastic and really funny. So I've always thought, oh my God, okay, I need to figure out a way where I get airlifted into.

• 40:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:46Conan O'Brien?

  A, a, a version of Music Man and I just get to do that song and then I'm airlifted out.

• 40:51Speaker 01

  I mean, I don't know, after the beef you clearly have with musicals, I don't know if that's gonna happen, do you?

• 40:56Conan O'Brien?

  I'm distancing myself also from Chalamet.

• 40:59Speaker 02

  I also.

• 40:59Conan O'Brien?

  My, my beef is always just ballet.

• 41:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:02Conan O'Brien?

  I'm down with musicals, I do love musicals, I just, not a beef, it's just that I could never make the logical leap.

• 41:08Speaker 01

  Right.

• 41:09Speaker 02

  But the Music Man is where the line is okay.

• 41:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:11Speaker 02

  I love that, like, that's the one where you're like, but that guy.

• 41:15Conan O'Brien?

  You know why?

• 41:16Speaker 02

  With his little traveling salesman box, when he breaks into song, I believe it.

• 41:20Conan O'Brien?

  You know why?

• 41:21Speaker 02

  Why?

• 41:21Conan O'Brien?

  Because it's that Rex Harrison thing of he's kind of talk singing.

• 41:24Speaker 02

  Ah, okay.

• 41:25Conan O'Brien?

  You know, now, listen, my friend.

• 41:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:26Conan O'Brien?

  It's all that kind of thing that makes more sense to me. Because I often start talking to people in that musical rhythm and yelling at them.

• 41:34Speaker 02

  You do?

• 41:34Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, I do. You could see why I would want to do a song where it's like, now gather around, everyone, and I'll tell you what, you have to know.

• 41:40Speaker 02

  Right.

• 41:40Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, you got to, you know.

• 41:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:42Conan O'Brien?

  That, as opposed to, I wish to have a mayonnaise sandwich.

• 41:47Speaker 02

  Well, it's not, it's not trying to be real.

• 41:50Conan O'Brien?

  Why can't you take a second and go, Conan, you have a beautiful voice. You're not, I've given him every fucking opportunity. I wish to have a mayonnaise, I mean, come on.

• 42:01Speaker 02

  That was.

• 42:03Conan O'Brien?

  You know what's crazy? He's wiping blood from his eyes. The blood that comes out of Josh's eyes when he hears music being butchered.

• 42:13Speaker 02

  That was hairs on the back of my neck. Fantastic. What a beautiful Irish tenor you have.

• 42:17Conan O'Brien?

  Their hairs on the back of your neck.

• 42:18Speaker 02

  Stunning.

• 42:19Conan O'Brien?

  Not your, not your hairs, just other hairs on the back of your neck.

• 42:23Speaker 02

  They go all the way down. I'm kidding.

• 42:26Conan O'Brien?

  Stop it back there, all of you cackling. We should address, I want to address the Timmy Chalamet thing for just a second because he was right there in the first row when we were at the Oscars. And I think, I do, I think he's an amazing actor.

• 42:38Speaker 02

  Same.

• 42:38Conan O'Brien?

  And I actually have met him a bit and know him. I really don't know him that well, but I, I think he is a really good guy. I really do.

• 42:46Speaker 02

  It got piled on. It was, if he came a hat on the hat.

• 42:49Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I'm gonna take a second and I've, of course, I was, I thought that was okay. Maybe that wasn't a great thing to say, but, you know, I.

• 42:58Speaker 02

  It ultimately helped.

• 42:59Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 43:00Speaker 02

  Ticket sales skyrocketed. I mean, like, the, the thing I took from it is like, all right, people are gonna have their, their hot takes, their opinions, as people should. And then you can disagree with it or not. But ultimately, like, if what he said meant that everybody went, yeah, stinks, uncool, whatever it is, and then sales dropped, well, then that would be one thing. But, no, everybody, like, ballet companies were saying, use promo code CHALAME.

• 43:21Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 43:24Speaker 02

  If you want two for one tickets, everybody was, you know, sometimes you need a heel for everybody to go, now, wait a minute.

• 43:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 43:30Speaker 02

  And every, he actually, he elevated it. People, and then he had, and then Misty Copeland came on the show. Our bit was, was written before he said those things.

• 43:37Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, right.

• 43:38Speaker 02

  So we, you know, people were asking me, did you do that? You were right in front, did you do that? And I said, no, we, we wanted to do it anyway.

• 43:42Conan O'Brien?

  We came up with that before that whole thing, but anyway, just, you know.

• 43:46Speaker 02

  Just a moment to say. He's alright.

• 43:51Conan O'Brien?

  Also, and I think he's an incredible actor.

• 43:53Speaker 02

  Incredible actor.

• 43:54Conan O'Brien?

  Incredible, incredible, and talented actor and, uh, and who amongst us hasn't said things?

• 43:59Speaker 02

  I mean, truly.

• 44:00Speaker 01

  You did this interview.

• 44:02Conan O'Brien?

  I think it's an interview.

• 44:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, this interview alone, you've said a lot of things.

• 44:06Conan O'Brien?

  Can I just say, I want to double down on this. I believe when, at the beginning of time, everyone spoke American.

• 44:12Speaker 01

  Okay, there we go.

• 44:13Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, my god.

• 44:14Speaker 01

  I thought you were gonna do the heroin thing again.

• 44:16Conan O'Brien?

  And also, what's wrong with fentanyl?

• 44:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, okay, alright.

• 44:20Conan O'Brien?

  Use promo code Conan for your black tar heroin needs, let me tell you. Uh, hey, so let's talk about this. You were always interested in comedy, that's always been an interest of yours. I know you're a talented mimic. At some point, because you are a renowned singer, you get this opportunity to be in the office.

• 44:44Speaker 02

  Right.

• 44:44Conan O'Brien?

  Voice on The Simpsons.

• 44:45Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 44:45Conan O'Brien?

  You get to start playing in that, on those little playing fields of comedy, and you're, you have a facility for it, and you really enjoy it, and that must just been, I mean, you have fans who are comedy fans of yours.

• 44:59Speaker 02

  Don't know that I sing.

• 45:00Conan O'Brien?

  Who don't know you sing.

• 45:01Speaker 02

  Right, that's very true.

• 45:02Conan O'Brien?

  And if they're just tuning in right now, they think, oh, they have the comedian Josh Groban on.

• 45:06Speaker 02

  Well, I'd be honored if they felt that way.

• 45:08Conan O'Brien?

  And then they're like, oh, wow, he sings.

• 45:11Speaker 02

  In fact, thank you for that opportunity on the Oscars to, to present my singing voice.

• 45:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought you should finally be heard out.

• 45:18Speaker 02

  Done wonders for my streaming.

• 45:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 45:21Speaker 02

  I, so I talked about those first years of my career where I just felt like a shell of myself. Part of that was because I felt like a hu- a huge part of my brain was just going untapped. And, you know, in high school, I got to work with that choir teacher, but then I also got to start an improv troupe. They, I had a free period, and we had a black box theater, and they, and when everybody else was just having snacks and, you know, what do kids do? Rollin' the dice, and I, I don't know.

• 45:45Conan O'Brien?

  Wow.

• 45:45Speaker 02

  You really had, you really, you now know I had no social life.

• 45:49Conan O'Brien?

  You really had no childhood. You know, and you, you run down the street in your buckle shoes.

• 45:56Speaker 02

  Smoking cloves. You know, I don't know what they were doing.

• 45:59Conan O'Brien?

  It's like one of those wee rims that goes down the street.

• 46:02Speaker 02

  That's it. Yeah, I was playing, I was playing Hoop and Stick all the way home.

• 46:06Conan O'Brien?

  Hoop and Stick, over here at a butter churn.

• 46:08Speaker 02

  And, uh, yeah. And, uh, so they said, you got anything you want to do? We got an hour free period. And I asked my theater teacher, I said, can we do improv? Can I do improv? I'd taken some classes. This is actually a very funny side quest. Is that in the valley, there's a theater called, um, Connection, LA Connection Comedy Theater. That's it, in the valley. And I was one of the youngest people they had, they had there, taking classes there. They now have a very strange painting of me on their wall. If you drive down, I think it's Victory or one of the streets in Burbank. Uh, I think it's next to like, there's a trophy shop on one side and a gun store on the other. And then there's this improv building. And it's got like me and Will Ferrell, who I guess went there. And, uh, Matthew Perry's face is on there.

• 46:51Speaker 02

  And, but, but we all look like Bizarro versions of ourselves.

• 46:54Conan O'Brien?

  Right, any tribute painting of someone is by definition weird. The faces are kind of bent and weird, you know?

• 47:02Speaker 02

  There are no paintings of me anywhere as a singer. But for some reason, LA Connection was like, this guy, this improv master, we must have him on there. Um, but improv was like an escape for me. So I started there and then, you know, for the vast majority of the beginning of my career, the label and everybody else was like, you have to be the guy who's on the billboard all the time. You, you cannot stray from the brand of singing these serious songs and being the serious guy on the pedestal. Because people are getting an emotion from the songs and you don't want to ruin that. Um, honestly, it started with Kimmel. He gave me, uh, he, he said, you know, because I wasn't getting couch time. And you giving me couch time, like being allowed to talk and show my personality was not something as a singer you normally get to do.

• 47:43Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 47:43Speaker 02

  Kimmel said, we've got a panda that is not mating right now. Uh, I think it's Ling Ling the panda.

• 47:49Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 47:49Speaker 02

  Would you do a skit where you sing a ballad trying to make the pandas horny?

• 47:54Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 47:54Speaker 02

  And I was like, here we go. In a way, we go. And so that was the first thing.

• 47:59Conan O'Brien?

  Did it work?

• 47:59Speaker 02

  That's the only important thing. There's a little, little Josh the Panda. It's a, it's a, no, there was, I think, I think that worked. I don't know, but then he had me back to sing. Kanye West tweets.

• 48:08Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 48:08Speaker 02

  And then he had me back to seeing Trump's tweets back when we we could laugh. And um.

• 48:12Conan O'Brien?

  Those were good times.

• 48:13Speaker 02

  And so just I think and then friends that I knew that did these shows said we've got a funny little thing or we want you to play yourself in a bizarre way.

• 48:19Conan O'Brien?

  Sure, yeah.

• 48:20Speaker 02

  And I just always said yes. I said yes to all of them because for me it was my way of just kind of exercising some of that stuff that I felt I wasn't able to be myself. It's freeing. It's fun. So, yeah, that's.

• 48:31Conan O'Brien?

  Do you have, this just fascinates me, but let's say you're singing something like, you know, Unchained Melody or some song that where you have to hit these heights and you know those notes are coming. Do you ever get in your head about that or are you just at this point, no, oh, I I know exactly what to do there? Which I'm sure you do, but when you have to take it up several octaves.

• 48:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, you might be training for a long time. You might technically know that the notes are in your range.

• 48:59Conan O'Brien?

  Yep.

• 48:59Speaker 02

  But uh, it's it's takes a lot of kind of practice mentally to get yourself to a place where you just decide to say, and it's not because you don't care, but there has to be a certain amount of fuck it. Because.

• 49:12Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 49:12Speaker 02

  Because if you care that much, oftentimes the the mind and the voice are connected.

• 49:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yep.

• 49:17Speaker 02

  And you're gonna get tense. And then the more you say, God, I hope it comes out. The sick thing about it is the more you're gonna regret how it came out.

• 49:24Conan O'Brien?

  I don't know if you're aware of this, but you sometimes say fuck it out loud.

• 49:28Speaker 02

  Well, did I?

• 49:28Conan O'Brien?

  I said, no, no, no, no. What I'm saying is I watched you do the National Anthem once. And when it came to Rocket's Red glare.

• 49:35Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 49:36Conan O'Brien?

  And this was in front of a huge stadium filled with children. It was bad. You said, you said, fuck it. Hammer, Rocket's Red! And it's like, don't do that.

• 49:45Speaker 02

  When you're timing the jets, sometimes you have to vamp.

• 49:49Speaker 02

  It's just, I tried to stretch. They, you know, you see the camera guy is going, you know, doing this and it's like, uh, fuck it, alright, uh. I think you should start, when you're gonna hit a really great impressive note, saying, "Watch this." Just before you do it, just, you break out of the song and go, "Watch this."

• 50:10Conan O'Brien?

  There was a singer, I won't name him, but there was a singer, kind of, there was a tenor that I used to see that was kind of coming up around the same time, and he used to do something before he'd hit high notes, where he, like, he'd be about to sing the high note, and he'd go,

• 50:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, oh no.

• 50:22Conan O'Brien?

  And I'd just would go,

• 50:24Speaker 02

  "Get this."

• 50:25Conan O'Brien?

  Here we, "Watch this."

• 50:26Speaker 02

  I don't like, I don't like that at all.

• 50:28Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 50:28Speaker 02

  I just, yeah.

• 50:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, "Check me out."

• 50:30Speaker 02

  If I did that, if I went, it definitely wouldn't come out. Like, that's a surefire way to jinx a high note.

• 50:36Conan O'Brien?

  I would completely go this other guy's way.

• 50:38Speaker 01

  Yes, you would.

• 50:39Conan O'Brien?

  I would go the other way, uh, and glorify, my favorite thing is to say, "Check this out," and then fail. I think it's the funniest, the funniest thing in the world to me is, "Watch this," and then wipe out. And then completely wipe out. I think that's very funny.

• 50:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, you don't start your Oscar monologue with, "Check this out."

• 50:57Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 50:57Speaker 02

  All right, here we go.

• 50:58Conan O'Brien?

  All right, what says, "Hey, you ready to laugh?" "Watch this."

• 51:02Speaker 01

  Oh, God.

• 51:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, "Did you see that that movie is so-and-so? Yeah, so-and-so," you know, boy, that would be aw- that's a good joke, by the way.

• 51:08Speaker 02

  I did have, I did have one performance where I was kind of sick. I was with David Foster. He, by the way, I should preface by saying he's been the most supportive and he's been a great mentor, but there was one time where I think he knew that I should just buckle up and sing, sing the note. And I was being kind of a baby about it. I had a cold, and I said to David, "This song, please, will you just make sure I don't sing, can I just not sing the note tonight? Can I sing around it?" "Yeah, yeah, no problem, no problem." We get out there, gets up to the note, he's got a mic at the piano, right, and he goes, "Here comes the money note." Right before, and that was a lesson learned. That was like, and by the way, because I was so surprised that he said it, popped right out.

• 51:40Conan O'Brien?

  Sure.

• 51:41Speaker 02

  And it was like, you know, tough love.

• 51:42Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 51:43Speaker 01

  Oh, why?

• 51:43Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 51:44Speaker 02

  Lot of phlegm got spit out in that moment.

• 51:48Conan O'Brien?

  Buh-tang!

• 51:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:51Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, there's another question. So, I'm driving around, listening to cinematic, and, uh, you know, The Breakfast at Tiffany's theme, uh,

• 52:00Speaker 02

  Moon River.

• 52:01Conan O'Brien?

  Moon River, which, it's, which you do with your dad.

• 52:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:04Conan O'Brien?

  And then it, it devolves into bickering at one point.

• 52:06Speaker 02

  It does.

• 52:07Conan O'Brien?

  You apparently left the milk out, and it was overnight.

• 52:11Speaker 02

  Those dishes will never get done.

• 52:12Conan O'Brien?

  River. There's no duet with me and my dad.

• 52:17Speaker 02

  The fuck it in that one is very faint.

• 52:22Speaker 02

  It comes after the jazzy key change. A little off mic.

• 52:25Conan O'Brien?

  How cool to get to do that with your dad, who's amazing.

• 52:27Speaker 02

  One of one experience.

• 52:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 52:29Speaker 02

  I, um, great, great musical arranger Vince Mendoza gave us that beautiful arrangement. And there was always a moment in the song for an instrumental. And I had great trumpet players that I'd kind of reached out to get feelers. I talked to Wynton Marsalis and Terrence Blanchard, my heroes to say, hey, I'm doing this song. Would you, would you be interested? And they both said, send me in. And then I said to myself, you know, my favorite trumpet player is also my favorite person. And my dad is turning 80 this summer. He hasn't played the trumpet anyway, in any way professionally since the 60s.

• 52:58Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 52:58Speaker 02

  And I asked him, I said, if I, I know you played Moon River as a kid. If I got you to rehearse, you had two weeks notice, do you think you could get the lip? And do you think you could do it? And he says, well, let me see. And he unzipped his, his trumpet, you know, case that had Dizzy Gillespie for president on it. And it had, was dusty, hadn't been opened since like the 70s. And, you know, every time I'd call the house, I'd say, Mom, how's he doing? I'd be going. You know, in the background, he's rehearsing. And I said, how's it going, Dad? He said, good, good. You know, I actually think I might be able to do this. So Greg Wells, our producer, set it up. I said, look, this is going to be my dad. I want this to be special and we need to have some patience. He hasn't played in a while. So Greg's credit, he said, we got to do this at Sunset Sound, which was Louis Armstrong's favorite studio in LA. And then he called and they said, you know, we actually still have Louis' stool. So if you want, we could set out the stool for your dad to sit on.

• 53:43Speaker 02

  And we got the old mics he used to record into. And I'm going, this is just turning into not just a song, but like a core memory family moment. My whole family showed up and my brother and my sister in law, my two year old nephew who's walking around and, you know, I got pictures of my dad playing the trumpet for him. And it was just, you know, it, it, and he crushed it. He totally crushed it. So I got my musicality from him. He went into business. His mom said, that's no way to make a living.

• 54:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 54:07Speaker 02

  And to have a song that is a tribute and a thank you for what he put in my DNA, uh, is just, it's the best. It's the best thing I've ever recorded.

• 54:16Conan O'Brien?

  My father in law is incredibly talented musician. Um, and, you know, great, you know, he can play jazz guitar and that kind of Dixieland.

• 54:27Conan O'Brien?

  Style and he's just, I mean, he can play like Django Reinhardt stuff.

• 54:31Speaker 02

  Oh, great.

• 54:31Conan O'Brien?

  And, um, and he's really terrific and he would always sit in with other bands and stuff. And he played at our wedding, uh, and but he's someone who, that's what was his, his real love. But he thought, well, you know, I'm married, I'm getting married and I'm gonna have kids and I must be responsible. So he, you know, worked in insurance and there's so many people who are great artists.

• 54:54Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 54:54Conan O'Brien?

  I think we live in a culture now of this is my dream and I must do it. And there's so many people who make decisions that this is what I want. I want a stable.

• 55:04Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 55:04Conan O'Brien?

  Income for my family and they do that. So people like your, like your dad.

• 55:09Speaker 02

  And he could really whale. We have one recording of a live performance he had in the sixties. And he was, I mean, truly phenomenal and, you know, he became an executive recruiter, you know? He's a headhunter, you know, he goes out and finds jobs for people and he's brilliant at it. And he's got, luckily, I don't have that side of the brain. If I wasn't doing this, I'd be lost, but he has also the business-y. He can focus, like really focus and he can do that and he's great at it. But for him to watch me do it for a living, my brother's a director, to kind of watch our artistic endeavors blossom.

• 55:38Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 55:38Speaker 02

  Uh, has, I think, been.

• 55:39Conan O'Brien?

  But also, uh, and, and you're able to do that because.

• 55:43Speaker 02

  Well, yeah.

• 55:43Conan O'Brien?

  He was responsible and did what he had to do.

• 55:47Speaker 02

  Sit down.

• 55:47Conan O'Brien?

  So cool.

• 55:47Speaker 02

  That's exactly right. Is that he went into, to do what he did to make sure that we were able to say, hey, I liked going to the theater. Can I, can I join the theater camp? You know, can I get a, can I get a, you know, an instrument to play myself? And that is the greatest, the greatest service he could have ever possibly done for us. Yeah.

• 56:04Conan O'Brien?

  I think our final message here is don't pursue your dreams.

• 56:08Conan O'Brien?

  You know what I mean? Don't.

• 56:09Speaker 01

  Speak English.

• 56:10Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 56:11Speaker 01

  Do heroin.

• 56:11Conan O'Brien?

  I call it American.

• 56:12Speaker 01

  Oh, so, sorry. Speak American, do heroin.

• 56:15Speaker 02

  Deny your dreams.

• 56:16Speaker 01

  Deny your dreams.

• 56:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Yeah. I call old English, original American.

• 56:24Conan O'Brien?

  1100 AD English to me is like, "Yeah, that was American." "And then they made it English."

• 56:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yep, I'm a moron that just doesn't quit. Well, uh, latest album Cinematic, it's really, it's amazing. And also, I mean, I was thinking, do you, do you ever just drive around and listen to yourself and enjoy it? Or is that impossible?

• 56:43Speaker 02

  Well, there's so much of that that happens when you're doing mixes. And you gotta make sure you're, you're listening with a critical lens because you just wanna make sure that everything is balanced right. So, I mean, yes, you accidentally, uh, get chills sometimes. You say, "Well, I sounded good there. Well, that really sounds great."

• 56:58Conan O'Brien?

  You prick.

• 56:58Speaker 02

  My, yeah, it's true. It's true. Ah, here comes the high note.

• 57:04Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I'm gonna rent you a convertible and we're gonna get a bumped up sound system and you're gonna listen to Cinematic driving around LA. And people are gonna see you listening to yourself and pointing at yourself at stoplights.

• 57:15Speaker 02

  I'm gonna point at you.

• 57:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 57:17Speaker 02

  What a voice, eh?

• 57:20Conan O'Brien?

  Josh, this has been a real delight.

• 57:21Speaker 02

  Same here.

• 57:23Conan O'Brien?

  Met him, you were a teenager, I believe, when I met you. And you were, again, really sweet, really funny. And I thought, and now here you are, uh, and you're an incredibly, incredibly good guy. And terrific artist, so glad to know you and thanks again for your help.

• 57:43Speaker 02

  Listen, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for being an inspiration for so many years. You make it look easy. I know how hard it is and you're just such a beacon of light for so many. So that's, this is the one, I'm gonna stick the landing here with some, take it, take it.

• 57:57Conan O'Brien?

  Well, you heard it here, I'm a huge, uh, influence musically.

• 58:01Speaker 02

  You are, you are.

• 58:02Conan O'Brien?

  Hearing, uh, your Danny Boy really, uh... Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes. Maybe I can do this for a living.

• 58:12Conan O'Brien?

  Tony Robbins goes broke in one month.

• 58:16Conan O'Brien?

  Josh, thank you.

• 58:23Conan O'Brien?

  You know, winning an award, that's a big achievement, right?

• 58:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:26Conan O'Brien?

  Every now and then in life, maybe something nice like that comes your way. Winning them consistently is almost impossible. It just doesn't happen, you know? Well, guess what? Winning five times in six years? You know what that sounds like to me? Sustained excellence.

• 58:41Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 58:41Conan O'Brien?

  Hyundai has done just that, earning the title of America's best SUV brand for 2026 from US News and World Report. You are a very happy Hyundai driver.

• 58:49Speaker 01

  I drive a Hyundai Palisade and I love my car. I love it. I love driving it around.

• 58:54Conan O'Brien?

  I've been tooling around in an Ioniq 5N, which I love. Beautiful car. Listen, whether you need an SUV for everyday life, your next big adventure, or extra room for family and friends, Hyundai has an option for you. The Tucson Hybrid is loaded with technology and built for everyday life. The Santa Fe Hybrid's fully capable and ready for adventure. The Palisade, that's yours, right?

• 59:13Speaker 01

  Hello!

• 59:14Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna rename that the Sona. The Palisade Hybrid, yeah, delivers premium capability and class-leading interior space. With available, I had this memorized, H-Track all-wheel drive, up to an EPA-estimated 619 miles of range on vehicles like the Palisade Hybrid and Hyundai's industry-leading warranty. It's easy to see why Hyundai continues to deliver the quality, innovation, technology, and value drivers expect from an award-winning brand. View US News Best Cars at cars.usnews.com and call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

• 59:48Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Was it, do you shop for the kids or do you shop for Tac?

• 59:52Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 59:53Conan O'Brien?

  Okay. You gotta get them your stuff.

• 59:54Speaker 01

  Or my dog.

• 59:55Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that, you smell that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 1:00:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:05Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys? Little early to buy a turkey. Doesn't matter. Holidays, I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want, even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get ahead, start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 1:00:41Conan O'Brien?

  So, you have to admit, the holidays, it's really about hanging with the people you love.

• 1:00:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:47Conan O'Brien?

  And getting to be yourself. Not going to some stuffy holiday party where you need to conform to what the man wants you to think about the holidays.

• 1:00:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:57Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's about being yourself. Turn your holiday time into Miller time by enjoying a Miller Lite in a place where you're free to enjoy yourself. On a walk with a cousin? With a cousin? Why are they getting all specific about it?

• 1:01:08Speaker 01

  Because it's family.

• 1:01:09Conan O'Brien?

  But what about a niece or a nephew?

• 1:01:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:13Conan O'Brien?

  Like a walk with an ex-wife? I don't know. I mean, they're just throwing, that's a weird, they just made a very specific choice.

• 1:01:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:19Conan O'Brien?

  Now's the time for those unexpected holiday side guests and enjoy a great tasting light beer. 'Tis Miller time, as Dickens wrote. Miller Lite is brewed for taste, the taste you can depend on. The original light beer since 1975 and still iconic more than 50 years later. I like to be with my bros, my chums, my posse. Crack open a Miller Lite, take a swig, a sip, look around and see my friends. We've known each other forever and we're just hanging out.

• 1:01:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, you guys are just doing chest bumps and high-fiving.

• 1:01:49Conan O'Brien?

  Miller Lite is great taste done right. Go to millerlite.com/conan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. 'Tis Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

• 1:02:11Speaker 03

  In celebration of your upcoming appearance in the new Toy Story movie.

• 1:02:15Conan O'Brien?

  Toy Story 5.

• 1:02:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:02:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:17Speaker 03

  The new one.

• 1:02:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:18Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:02:21Speaker 03

  We have something special to show you.

• 1:02:22Conan O'Brien?

  Oh my god, it's out!

• 1:02:24Speaker 01

  Ah, how cool!

• 1:02:26Conan O'Brien?

  Look at that!

• 1:02:27Speaker 01

  Silly sound maker.

• 1:02:27Conan O'Brien?

  This is my character. His name is Smartypants.

• 1:02:30Speaker 03

  It's a toy, for the listener.

• 1:02:31Conan O'Brien?

  It's a toy for, um... Well, basically, my character in Toy Story 5 is a potty-training device. And so, I think this must be my voice, right? Hello, hello there. Pick a number. I mean, that could be me.

• 1:02:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think it's you.

• 1:02:49Conan O'Brien?

  No, it's... I, I mean, I recorded these, so...

• 1:02:53Speaker 03

  You recorded specifically for the toy, or did they take the sound bits from the movie?

• 1:02:56Conan O'Brien?

  No, they had me do it for the toy.

• 1:02:57Speaker 03

  Good to hear.

• 1:02:58Conan O'Brien?

  And I was like, I was like, you know what, I'm gonna...

• 1:03:03Speaker 03

  This, this isn't the bathroom. That's you.

• 1:03:06Speaker 01

  That is you.

• 1:03:07Conan O'Brien?

  That's me. So, what's that?

• 1:03:09Speaker 03

  You did it here, in this studio.

• 1:03:10Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I did it, we, yeah, we.

• 1:03:13Speaker 03

  It doesn't shut up.

• 1:03:14Conan O'Brien?

  Now he's interrupting.

• 1:03:14Speaker 03

  It must be you, it won't shut up.

• 1:03:16Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, that's.

• 1:03:17Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 1:03:19Conan O'Brien?

  You know what I did? I decided, they're like.

• 1:03:23Conan O'Brien?

  You know what's so weird? I'm being interrupted by myself.

• 1:03:25Speaker 03

  Finally, there's karma. Oh my god.

• 1:03:28Conan O'Brien?

  I can't get him to shut up.

• 1:03:30Speaker 01

  It's motion activated.

• 1:03:31Conan O'Brien?

  Dude, are you done? Oh, he's motion activated, that's what the problem is. Yeah, it is, it is motion activated.

• 1:03:35Speaker 03

  Oh, it does say it, right there on the box. Can you turn it upside down?

• 1:03:40Conan O'Brien?

  Um, I'm just gonna put it on the floor for a second, just so I.

• 1:03:42Speaker 03

  And then can you yourself go on the floor too?

• 1:03:46Conan O'Brien?

  And can I, and can I be boxed and put into storage by a collector? Um, yeah, uh, they said, oh, do you wanna, you know, I guess they can use a different voice, but they said, do you wanna do your voice for the toy? And I remember thinking, I'm never gonna be a toy again. Yeah, I wanna be a toy, I wanna be the voice of a toy.

• 1:04:03Speaker 03

  Get a little extra, they negotiated.

• 1:04:05Conan O'Brien?

  I do not think so.

• 1:04:06Speaker 03

  No?

• 1:04:06Conan O'Brien?

  No.

• 1:04:08Speaker 03

  Well.

• 1:04:08Conan O'Brien?

  This is, this is the opposite of a cash grab.

• 1:04:11Speaker 03

  Pixar, okay.

• 1:04:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, this is not that, this is, uh, I mean, and I don't, I don't care, cuz it's, to be part of the Toy Story saga, it was just a delight, and to be in the same company of these amazingly creative people and these huge stars. So I was just super happy to, to do it.

• 1:04:27Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 1:04:27Conan O'Brien?

  But, um, yeah, so now it's a, it's a toy.

• 1:04:31Speaker 03

  I wonder when my youngest daughter gets potty trained to full, use that.

• 1:04:34Conan O'Brien?

  Um, I think your wife will nix that.

• 1:04:37Speaker 03

  But what if you find out people are using it and children all over the world are getting constipated?

• 1:04:44Conan O'Brien?

  An epic, there's an epidemic of constipation among children, and we think we found the. Yeah, kids just seize up when they hear my voice.

• 1:04:54Speaker 01

  I love that, the, the time you're in a Pixar movie, it's when you're a roll of toilet paper.

• 1:04:59Conan O'Brien?

  Well, that's how the toy looks, but I'm not a roll of toilet paper.

• 1:05:02Speaker 01

  I know, but that's, that's what it's modeled after, you're, it's a, you're, you're.

• 1:05:06Speaker 03

  A roll of toilet paper.

• 1:05:07Speaker 01

  Toy, yeah, you look like a roll of toilet paper.

• 1:05:09Conan O'Brien?

  No, you're bringing it the wrong way.

• 1:05:10Speaker 03

  It's literally a roll of toilet.

• 1:05:11Speaker 01

  It actually is like just a roll of toilet.

• 1:05:13Conan O'Brien?

  No, no.

• 1:05:14Speaker 01

  Oh my god, your eyes light up, okay.

• 1:05:16Conan O'Brien?

  You just talked over my toy, which is so you. My toy was trying to talk, and you in typical Sona fashion.

• 1:05:23Speaker 03

  They should make a Sona toy.

• 1:05:25Speaker 01

  Okay, I'm glad I didn't talk over that.

• 1:05:31Speaker 03

  Let me see this thing.

• 1:05:32Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, look, now, I like when you put it face down and he's just talking into the, into the table.

• 1:05:36Speaker 03

  Alone again.

• 1:05:38Conan O'Brien?

  Wow.

• 1:05:44Conan O'Brien?

  That's, uh, Smarty Pants when he's low on battery and he sounds drunk.

• 1:05:48Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 1:05:49Conan O'Brien?

  Um, that's my method as an actor.

• 1:05:51Speaker 01

  Oh, that's good.

• 1:05:54Conan O'Brien?

  Now, I have to be honest, as we record this, I've not seen the movie yet, so I don't know what's gonna happen. This could be the end of me.

• 1:06:02Speaker 03

  Really?

• 1:06:03Speaker 01

  What? Are you joking?

• 1:06:05Conan O'Brien?

  You just never know.

• 1:06:06Speaker 01

  No, you're joking. It's, it's gonna be great.

• 1:06:08Conan O'Brien?

  I do not wanna be the guy that fucks up Toy Story 5.

• 1:06:11Speaker 01

  Oh, you're stupid. Don't say that.

• 1:06:12Speaker 03

  Maybe you'll get a spinoff.

• 1:06:15Conan O'Brien?

  What if I leave the podcast to go double down on my Smarty Pants costume? What if I start touring and I'm in a Smarty Pants costume?

• 1:06:22Speaker 03

  You go to conventions?

• 1:06:23Conan O'Brien?

  I go to conventions and I have, you know, I'm one of those, I just do this a lot and take pictures with people.

• 1:06:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:28Conan O'Brien?

  I think that's a good idea.

• 1:06:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:06:29Speaker 01

  That'll work.

• 1:06:30Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, anyway, so, that's it. I am the voice of a toilet-training toy.

• 1:06:35Speaker 03

  This is exciting.

• 1:06:36Conan O'Brien?

  Um, are you excited? Now, this is a big deal for you, animation and Disney and all that, right?

• 1:06:40Speaker 03

  Well, I'm not, uh, like, one way or the other on Disney cartoons, but Toy Story and Pixar, they're pretty amazing, and plus, now that I have a daughter that I go to the movies with, this is gonna be amazing.

• 1:06:52Conan O'Brien?

  Will you take her to see Toy Story 5?

• 1:06:54Speaker 03

  Absolutely. We go see a lot. We, we love going to movies. So, I mean, this would be, sometimes we're stretching to find a decent movie.

• 1:07:01Conan O'Brien?

  The only thing I've seen, I go to the premiere tomorrow and I will see the movie for the first time. I have, and, and there are whole chunks of the movie I don't know, because they only give you your part.

• 1:07:10Speaker 03

  Uh-huh.

• 1:07:11Conan O'Brien?

  But, um, one of the things that they did let me see was the opening of the movie, uh, and it's just stunning.

• 1:07:19Speaker 03

  Do you have, are you in that, or do you have a?

• 1:07:21Conan O'Brien?

  I'm not in it.

• 1:07:21Speaker 03

  Give a grand entrance of it?

• 1:07:23Conan O'Brien?

  No, I mean, I don't know. I have not seen anything to do with my part. I'm totally in the dark. So, uh, but, they show the opening of the movie, which is quite cinematic and amazing, and I just, uh... They are because David Hoppie and I got to go to Pixar.

• 1:07:38Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:07:38Conan O'Brien?

  To record my parts and it is, they're formidable, these people. They're just really amazing.

• 1:07:44Speaker 03

  Are you gonna take the boys?

• 1:07:46Speaker 01

  I am. Yeah.

• 1:07:47Speaker 03

  And when he comes on screen, are you gonna whisper to them, I have complicated feelings about that kid?

• 1:07:53Speaker 01

  I think, no, they know that Uncle Conan's in the next Toy Story movie.

• 1:07:57Conan O'Brien?

  They don't know which part I am.

• 1:07:58Speaker 01

  They have no idea which part you're in.

• 1:08:00Conan O'Brien?

  Just tell them I'm Woody.

• 1:08:02Speaker 01

  Oh, my God. That's blasphemy. Absolutely not. No way. Do you get to go to Disneyland for free? That's one of the perks of being like a Disney employee. Do you have a badge?

• 1:08:12Conan O'Brien?

  No.

• 1:08:12Speaker 01

  Okay. Are you, so you're not like, you were just like temporarily there? If you wanted to go to Disneyland for free or get tickets for somebody who wants to go to Disneyland for free?

• 1:08:22Conan O'Brien?

  I think they got what they needed from me.

• 1:08:24Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:08:24Conan O'Brien?

  And I will be, and even if I try to purchase a legitimate ticket to Disneyland, they will probably tell me I can't have it.

• 1:08:32Speaker 03

  You know, we floated the idea of the three of us going to Disneyland and, and recording there. I think we should do that.

• 1:08:37Conan O'Brien?

  I do that, sure.

• 1:08:38Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:08:39Speaker 01

  I do that.

• 1:08:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:08:40Speaker 01

  Yeah. I love Disney.

• 1:08:42Conan O'Brien?

  I wonder, I took a date to Disneyland once, years ago.

• 1:08:45Speaker 03

  How old were you?

• 1:08:46Conan O'Brien?

  I was, um, I was when I was first living out here. So it would have been like 1986. I would have been 23.

• 1:08:53Speaker 03

  How was the date?

• 1:08:54Conan O'Brien?

  It was a good date.

• 1:08:55Speaker 01

  That's a great date.

• 1:08:56Conan O'Brien?

  It was a good date. Yeah.

• 1:08:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's a great date.

• 1:08:59Speaker 03

  It takes a lot of the awkwardness out of it because there's so much to do.

• 1:09:01Conan O'Brien?

  Why would there be awkwardness with me? What are you talking about?

• 1:09:04Speaker 01

  Did you make her go to like the Hall of Presidents?

• 1:09:08Conan O'Brien?

  I, it gets worse. I took her to the Hall of Presidents and then made her, we stayed. Cause I wanted to see each president talk multiple times. And then she got upset when I said, I told her, she started to say something. I said, quiet, it's Martin Van Buren coming up.

• 1:09:25Conan O'Brien?

  He was the sage, I said, he was the sage of Kinderhook. And she went, what? And I said, old Kinderhook, upstate New York. Martin Van Buren, his lineage was, they were Dutch and, um, then I snapped at her and I never saw her again. She left in tears. And then Martin Van Buren looked at me and went, you are a dick, sir.

• 1:09:47Speaker 01

  You could go so much about Martin Van Buren.

• 1:09:50Conan O'Brien?

  He said, you know more about me than I do. She, and then Martin Van Buren said, she looked hot. And then Lincoln said, sure did. You fucked up, son.

• 1:10:01Conan O'Brien?

  You cock blocked yourself, young man. You cock blocked yourself, and that's hard to do. And then, um, all the presidents just spent like forty minutes telling me what an absolute...

• 1:10:13Speaker 01

  They had a roast?

• 1:10:14Conan O'Brien?

  They just went after me. I would watch the Hall of Presidents roast Conan. There was a Kevin Hart, a Kevin Hart robot came out. And he said, "I'm not a president, but I want in on this." And then he went after me. And so it was all the presidents and Kevin Hart roasting me for making my girlfriend go see the Hall of Presidents. Anyway, she fled, never, never to return again.

• 1:10:36Speaker 01

  That's great.

• 1:10:36Conan O'Brien?

  Anyway, Toy Story 5, do it, man.

• 1:10:43Conan O'Brien?

  I don't know. My brain doesn't work today.

• 1:10:48Speaker 03

  Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend with Conan O'Brien, Sonam Afshesian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gorley. Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Theme song by The White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

• 1:11:08Speaker 03

  Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at siriusxm.com/conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

• 1:12:00Conan O'Brien?

  Have you ever had a cat, Sona?

• 1:12:01Speaker 01

  Never.

• 1:12:02Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, I have had multiple cats.

• 1:12:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:04Conan O'Brien?

  I had a cat growing up. It was my cat. My wife and I now have three cats.

• 1:12:08Speaker 01

  That's a lot.

• 1:12:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, we have three cats and two dogs. And I have to say, the dogs are so appreciative. Cats are hard to win over.

• 1:12:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:16Conan O'Brien?

  Cats are cats. They're tricky.

• 1:12:17Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:12:18Conan O'Brien?

  Sometimes I feel like I'm working for them. You know? Well, Temptations Classic Cat Treats is the solution, okay? Temptations Classic Cat Treats are the crunchy outside, soft inside treat any cat obsesses over. Each treat is under 2 calories per treat. It's 100% nutrishly complete and balanced for adult cats.

• 1:12:37Speaker 01

  Oh, good.

• 1:12:37Conan O'Brien?

  That's important. And to appeal to cats with finer palates, Temptations Lickable Puree has a perfectly creamy texture they can't get enough of. Some say the Roman Empire collapsed because the Romans became too obsessed with their own pleasure. Is this a sign of things to come? I don't think so. Look for a way to make bonding with your feline friend even better. Try America's number one cat treat brand, Temptations Cat Treats. Cats can't resist.