Fans of Stephen Colbert said their goodbyes as his 11-year run as the host of “The Late Show” on CBS ended this week.
Colbert, 62, hosted the final episode on Thursday, featuring a star-studded lineup including Paul McCartney, Paul Rudd, Bryan Cranston, and fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver.
He saw a flurry of support from celebrities far and wide, including a few Alabama rock legends who have performed on his show.
Among them was Brittany Howard, the Athens-born Grammy-winner co-founder of Alabama Shakes, who has appeared on several episodes of “The Late Show,” most recently performing her song “What Now” in October 2024.
“Memories from @colbertlateshow very first show in honor of the chapter closing tonight,” Howard posted online, including a photo of Howard and Colbert side by side on a backstage couch. “Lucky to have been a part of the journey Love you Stephen, thank you for being an inspiration to us all!”
Howard also sang “Stay High” on the show in September 2019 and “Revolution” in November 2020.
“She was nominated for five Grammys today and is one of President Obama’s favorite artists,” Colbert said during the intro of the latter.
Alabama Shakes performed the song “Joe” from their album “Sound & Color” Oct. 29, 2015.
Howard also appeared on a September 2015 episode, sharing the stage with Mavis Staples, Ben Folds, Buddy Guy, and fellow Alabama native Paul Janeway of St. Paul and the Broken Bones for a medley.
Drive-By Truckers reunited with Jason Isbell last December for a performance of “Hell No, I Ain’t Happy” from their expanded box set “The Definitive Decoration Day,” featuring the band’s classic 2003 album.
Front and center were the band’s three guitar players, Hood, Isbell and Mike Cooley, backed by keyboardist Jay Gonzalez, bassist Matt Patton, and drummer Brad Morgan.
“Hell No, I Ain’t Happy,” written by Hood, marked the third track on the 15-song album, the first of three records they made with Isbell, who wrote the song “Decoration Day.”
The band originated in Athens, Georgia, but several members including Hood and Cooley hailed from the Shoals region, where the pair met as students at the University of North Alabama. Isbell (from Green Hill, Alabama) joined the band in 2001 before his departure in 2007.
Hood also took to social media to pay tribute to the departing host.
“To say that DBT are massive fans of Stephen Colbert is an understatement in the league of saying I kind of like The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin or The Clash,” Hood wrote in a social media post.
“Mr. Colbert is not only the best at what he does on TV, he is among The BEST of what America has to offer itself and the world. A true class act, top to bottom,” Hood continued. “Smart (another understatement), kind, caring, full of love and joy. And funny as hell. Truly sidesplitting hilarious, always punching up and never punching down, speaking truth to power and the ridiculousness that so often accompanies it.”
Hood wrote the band was “honored” to perform on the show last winter, “knowing that it would be the last time.”
“To say it was joyful would be another understatement,” Hood wrote. “DBT has been doing late night TV for nearly 25 years, having done so numerous times for hosts ranging from Craig Kilborn, Conan O’Brien (numerous times on two of his shows), Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman, but this was a next level experience.
“The joy we witnessed backstage was moving and infectious. The staff was next-level wonderful to us and Mr. Colbert himself came back to personally greet us. It was truly one of my favorite experiences of the 30 years DBT has been a band.”
Hood thanked Colbert, calling him “a man of rare intelligence and grace, a source of joy and light in these dark times, a man of wisdom and humor when we needed it most.”
Isbell and his band The 400 Unit performed a two-night run on “The Late Show” in December 2023, playing his songs “King of Oklahoma” and “Cover Me Up.” He also sang “Hope the High Road” on the show in June 2017, and performed remote renditions of “Running with Our Eyes Closed” and “Overseas” during the pandemic.
Isbell also appeared with Strand of Oaks to perform the song “Ruby” in March 2019.” The Grammy-winner also did a bit called “Jason Isbell releases the saddest song ever” in a March 2016 episode of the show.
Colbert on Thursday gave a heartfelt final monologue, thanking the show’s crew along with the audience, before welcoming Paul McCartney as the show’s final guest.
CBS announced last summer that Colbert’s show would end, citing economic reasons after 11 seasons, despite Colbert leading in late-night TV ratings. Many — including Colbert — expressed skepticism that President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the show wasn’t a factor. Trump’s name on Thursday never came up.
The decision to shutter the show came after parent company Paramount’s $16 million settlement of Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview as Paramount awaited his administration’s approval of a pending sale to Skydance Media. Colbert had called it a “big fat bribe.” On Thursday, he showed a clip of a sympathetic dolphin clicking with the subtitle: “It was a financial decision.”
The Associated Press and Mark Heim contributed to this report.
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