David Letterman, who will be 67 on April 12, announced during the taping of his show Thursday that he will be retiring from "The Late Show" on CBS in 2015. He has been the face of the popular show since 1992.
"The man who owns this network, Leslie Moonves, he and I have had a relationship for years and years and years, and we have had this conversation in the past, and we agreed that we would work together on this circumstance and the timing of this circumstance," Letterman said while announcing his decision during the show on Thursday. "And I phoned him just before the program, and I said 'Leslie, it's been great, you've been great, and the network has been great, but I'm retiring.'"
The immensely popular host went on to add: "We don't have the timetable for this precisely down - I think it will be at least a year or so, but sometime in the not too distant future, 2015 for the love of God, in fact, Paul and I will be wrapping things up."
When Letterman, nicknamed "The Big Man," retires from the show next year, he will have completed 22 years as the host of the popular late night show. Previous to the gig, Letterman was the host of NBC's "Late Night" before replacing Johnny Carson as the host of "The Tonight Show."
Thus far, CBS has not made any announcement regarding who will succeed Letterman.
As word of Letterman's decision to retire from the show spread rapidly via Twitter, several celebrities and fans tweeted their surprise. Musician Mike Mills, who appeared on the April 3 show, was the first to respond on the microblogging site.
"When Dave decided on a one-year extension for his most recent contract, we knew this day was getting closer, but that doesn't make the moment any less poignant for us," CBS Corp. Chief Moonves, who officially learned from Letterman about his decision just before Thursday's taping, said in a statement.
