Recommendations of the Editorial team
Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert’s former bandleader Jon Batiste and his current bandleader Louis Cato were among the musicians who gave Colbert a warm farewell on his final night as host of “The Late Show” at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater. The performance concluded the show – a star-studded, sentimental and humorous finale.
First to air was Costello’s “Jump Up (Honky Tonk Demo)” – apparently a pre-produced sequence – an intimate acoustic number in which Costello, Batiste, Cato and Colbert sat on stools and harmonized in polyphony under the spotlights. McCartney led the second song: the Beatles song “Hello, Goodbye,” which was played live in front of the theater audience. The audience stood and sang along as McCartney intoned the classic.
This marked the end of Colbert’s nearly 11-year tenure behind the desk of “The Late Show,” which he took over from David Letterman in September 2015. Letterman was the show’s first host in August 1993.
Springsteen, Byrne and more
The musicians who anchored the show were part of a star-studded cast last week. This also included a powerful performance by Bruce Springsteen, who sang “Streets of Minneapolis” the night before – and in the process took CBS to task for canceling the show. Colbert also performed the Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House” with David Byrne earlier in the week. Without appearing, “Weird Al” Yankovic and James Taylor were among the finals week guests who took part in an iconic segment of the “Colbert Questionert” – which typically asks guests 15 questions. Last week, guests turned the tables and questioned Colbert.
“The Late Show” was canceled in July 2025 after CBS and its parent company Paramount reached a $16 million settlement with Donald Trump. CBS described the decision as “purely financial.” However, there was speculation that Paramount canceled the show in order to appear favorable to Trump – whom Colbert had regularly criticized – and the FCC and thus favor the merger between Paramount and Skydance.
