Speed Reads

Last week of Letterman

Watch Letterman sign off for good, with Foo Fighters backup

If you don't know why David Letterman chose the Foo Fighters as the final act in his 33-year career in television, he told you on Wednesday night's Late Show finale: The band "saved my life." He wanted Dave Grohl and Co. to play their song "Everlong" on his first show back after open-heart surgery in 2000, and the band canceled a South American tour to do so. On Wednesday, though, the Foo Fighters were mostly the musical backdrop to a highlight reel of Letterman's long, storied TV career. Before the band played, Letterman had one last thing to say: "All right, that's pretty much all I got. The only thing I have left to do, for the last time on a television program: Thank you and good night." And so it ends.

Watch the Foo Fighters, in black tie, and video montage below. —Peter Weber