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

 Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Jon Batiste, and Louis Cato helped bring a heartfelt close to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in its final broadcast at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater, delivering a star-studded farewell filled with music, humor, and nostalgia.

The final episode featured a two-part musical send-off. The first performance saw Elvis Costello, Jon Batiste, Louis Cato, and host Stephen Colbert seated together under soft lighting, performing Costello’s “Jump Up (Honky Tonk Demo)” in an intimate, acoustic arrangement. The moment set a reflective tone for the evening.

The celebration then shifted to a live performance led by Paul McCartney, who delivered the Beatles classic “Hello, Goodbye.” The audience inside the theater stood and joined in, turning the closing number into a communal farewell.

The finale marked the end of Colbert’s nearly 11-year run as host of the CBS late-night program, which he took over in September 2015 from David Letterman, the show’s original host since its 1993 debut. Over its final week, the program featured several special guests and performances.

Among them, Bruce Springsteen delivered a powerful appearance with “Streets of Minneapolis,” while also making pointed remarks about CBS and the show’s cancellation. Earlier in the week, Colbert performed alongside David Byrne on “Burning Down the House.”

Other notable appearances included Weird Al Yankovic and James Taylor, who participated in the show’s signature “Colbert Questionert,” with the format flipped to let guests question Colbert in return.

The program’s end followed CBS’s decision to cancel it in July 2025, which the network described as a financial decision. However, speculation circulated that broader corporate considerations, including Paramount’s legal and regulatory challenges during its merger process, may have influenced the move—though no official confirmation supported those claims.