Jay Leno thanked his loyal supporters as he said a heartfelt goodbye on The Tonight Show on Thursday.

"This has been the greatest 22 years of my life," he said with tears in his eyes. "I am the luckiest guy in the world. I got to meet presidents, astronauts, movie stars, it's just been incredible."

The 63-year-old also revealed that within the first few years of the show he lost his mother, father and brother, but found comfort in those he worked with.

"And the folks here became my family," he added.

Yet, Leno isn't the only one who expressed sadness for his departure. Several celebrities took to Twitter to write touching messages to the former host since 1992.

"Thanks @jayleno for being supportive of me and my tunes from day one!! Has always been a pleasure to be on your Tonight," singer Josh Groban tweeted.

"Just wanna say thank you for always being the sweetest and having me on your show these past 4 years! Great times! Big fan," former Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi tweeted.

"Much love to the one and only @jayleno. Thank you for all the laughs and great times! Also... Can I have a car? No? Ok, cool," Justin Timberlake wrote.

Britney Spears tweeted an old photo of herself on Leno's show from 2003 with the caption, "#tbt Being interviewed by the amazing @jayleno....thanks for making us smile for so many years :)."

One of his competitors Jimmy Kimmel even tweeted, "Issues aside, 20 years at #1 is a remarkable achievement. Congratulations and best wishes to @jayleno on an incredible run."

"Fare thee well Jay Leno U are going out on top...TOP we will miss you on the Tonight Show, whoever thought being number 1 wasn't good enough," Whoopi Goldberg wrote.

Even the White House's Twitter page sent the message, "Thanks for all the memories, @JayLeno!" along with a photo of President Barack Obama laughing with Leno.

And the First Lady added: "Thanks for the memories and the laughs, @JayLeno! Wishing you good health and a great journey ahead."

Tags: Jay Leno