Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Jon Batiste Bid Stephen Colbert a Warm Musical Goodbye

'Late Show' Finale The late-night host joined a supergroup, which also included current bandleader Louis Cato May 22, 2026 Stephen Colbert and Paul McCartney on the series finale of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and Stephen Colbert’s former bandleader Jon Batiste, along with current bandleader Louis Cato were among the musicians to bid a warm goodbye to Stephen Colbert during his final night hosting The Late Show at Ed Sullivan Theater in New York on Thursday. It also closed out the show, which was a star-studded, sentimental, and humorous send-off. The first song that was broadcast was Costello’s “Jump Up (Honky Tonk demo)” — which appeared to be a prerecorded segment — an intimate acoustic number that featured the Costello, Batiste, Cato, and Colbert on stools, harmonizing under spotlights. McCartney led the second song, the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye,” which was performed live in front of the theater’s audience, who stood and sang along as McCartney played the Beatle classic. It marked the end of Colbert’s nearly 11-year run behind The Late Show’s desk after taking over from David Letterman in September 2015. Letterman served as the first host of the program back in August 1993. The musicians who closed out the show were among the star-studded final week of guests, which included a moving and powerful performance by Bruce Springsteen, who performed “Streets of Minneapolis” last night (while taking CBS to task for canceling the show), and Colbert joined David Byrne to perform Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House” earlier in the week. While they didn’t perform, “Weird Al” Yankovic and James Taylor were among the week finale’s guests who participated in an iconic segment of “Colbert Quesionert,” where guests are typically asked 15 questions. For its final week, guests turned the tables and queried Colbert. The Late Show was canceled in July 2025 after CBS and its parent company Paramount settled a $16 million lawsuit with Donald Trump. CBS cited that it was a “purely a financial decision.” However, it was speculated that Paramount nixed the show to look favorable to Trump — of whom Colbert has been critical — and the FCC to help secure the merger between Paramount and Skydance.