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