{"id":658035,"date":"2026-05-22T07:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658035\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T07:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:36:10","slug":"paul-mccartney-is-stephen-colberts-final-musical-guest-on-late-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658035\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney Is Stephen Colbert\u2019s Final Musical Guest on \u2018Late Show\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe finale of Stephen Colbert\u2019s beloved late-night show wasn\u2019t a cliffhanger, but a blockbuster, as Paul McCartney<\/a> stopped by The Ed Sullivan Theater for an interview.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn doing so, the Beatles<\/a> great completed the full circle. It was here, in the same glorious New York City building back on Feb. 9, 1964, when the legendary British band made their historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. When the screaming had subsided, the world had changed. The Fab Four\u2019s U.S. TV debut shook America\u2019s teenage population, gathering an estimated 73 million viewers, a record for its time and a wake-up call for pop culture. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMcCartney, 83, is perhaps the most famous living pop star on earth. And the two-time Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee can still command screams wherever he goes, as was evident on his final appearance Thursday night, May 21 on The Late Show<\/a>. How often does that still happen, Colbert asked his famous guest. \u201cOften,\u201d was the response. True story. Check out the proof below.<\/p>\n

\n\tColbert\u2019s final broadcast of\u00a0The Late Show\u00a0with Stephen Colbert draws curtains on an 11-year run. CBS announced the cancelation in July 2025, citing financial losses. Many observers, however, aren\u2019t buying it, with figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren claiming the axing was political censorship, coming just days after Colbert publicly criticized CBS\u2019s parent company, Paramount, over its $16 million legal settlement with Trump, a moment when Paramount was on the brink of a merger deal that U.S. authorities could block.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve had so much fun in this theater, so many great segments,\u201d Colbert remarked in his last, opening monologue. The gags, they flowed as usual. Once backstage, Elvis Presley used the bathroom and didn\u2019t die, Colbert insisted. And those regular dry observations of current affairs and Trump\u2019s administration, they were barbed, as expected. <\/p>\n

\n\tSpecial occasions require special guests, and this final episode was no different as Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows and others popped up for fun cameos, while an extraordinary line-up of special guest questioners did their bit, including Billy Crystal, \u201cWeird Al\u201d Yankovic, Josh Brolin, Martha Stewart, Mark Hamill, Ben Stiller, James Taylor and Robert De Niro.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the top, Colbert reminded the audience that, despite the show disappearing from the airwaves, \u201cwe were lucky enough to be here for the last 11 years. You can\u2019t take this for granted.\u201d Watch below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The finale of Stephen Colbert\u2019s beloved late-night show wasn\u2019t a cliffhanger, but a blockbuster, as Paul McCartney stopped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[74839,88,216,16522],"class_list":["post-658035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bbnews","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-the-late-show"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}