As Cheap Trick's summer-long opening duties on the Def Leppard tour draw to a close, the veteran power pop group heads to Los Angeles, Sept. 1, to perform its killer new single 'Sick Man of Europe' on 'The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.' "He's a fan," Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen reveals to Spinner about the chat show host.

In June, O'Brien co-opted Cheap Trick's classic 'Surrender' for his new show's hilarious introductory skit, which documented his journey west across America as he switched from hosting 'Late Night' in New York to heading 'The Tonight Show.' "Then he gets all the way there and he forgets the key," laughs Nielsen about the skit. "To have a whole song on there? How did it fit in with what he's doing? I don't want to think too hard on the subject. But what an honor to have your song played at the beginning of the next generation. The kickoff to ... I don't know what it is, really."

Conan surrendering himself to a new adventure? "Exactly! The next day he called me. He says, 'Ah Rick, Eddie Vedder says that was genius, we love those guys.' We knew that anyhow," jokes Nielsen. "When he called me -- I'm an iPhone guy and AT&T blows most of the time -- the call quit. He called again and it quit again. He called me three times and we ended up talking for 10 minutes. It's like, I don't call anybody back three times!"

"I'm glad the phone screwed up," he adds proudly. "Now there's a story behind it. Him calling me? He's got better things to do."