THUNDER BAY, Ont. — About 500 people were on hand Saturday to welcome home Paul Shaffer who had a street named in his honour.

The band leader and sidekick on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman arrived in a limo with Mayor Ken Boshcoff before the unveiling of Paul Shaffer Drive, a curved driveway in front of the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.

"This is the most exciting night of my life," Shaffer told the crowd. Shaffer, 52, began his career playing keyboard with high school and nightclub bands in and around his home town.

He was hired for the original band of Saturday Night Live in 1975 where he worked through 1980.

He helped his SNL colleague Gilda Radner on the songs for her Broadway show and was musical director for alumni John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's The Blues Brothers' tour and album.

He's recorded two albums and written dozens of songs including the theme song for the Late Show With David Letterman and, alongside Paul Jabara, wrote the Top 40 disco hit It's Raining Men.