Stay Human bandleader Jon Batiste left the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to pursue professional and personal interests.
The fans of the American late-night news and political satire talk show, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, were in for a surprise after the show’s host Stephen Colbert announced that the show’s band’s bandleader Jon Batiste was exiting from the show after being an integral part of the show for past seven years. When explaining the reason, the host claimed that Batiste was leaving the show due to his wish to pursue other personal and professional pursuits.
Stephen Colbert said, "Sharp-eyed viewers may have noticed that Jon hasn't been here this summer, well, I have an update. Jon has decided to leave the show but it's for all the best reasons including to continue sharing his art with the world." He continued, "We've been so lucky to have a front row seat to Jon's incredible talent for the past seven years. And will we miss him here? 'Yeaaa!' But we're happy for you, Jon, and I can't wait to have you back on as a guest with your next hit record. I love you."
Who is Jon Batiste?
Jonathan Michael Batiste who goes by his professional alias Jon Batiste is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He rose to fame for being the nightly bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 to 2022. The musician has won five Grammys in his career to this day. In 2020 he co-composed the score for the Pixar animated film Soul, and was lauded for the same.
Batiste and his fellow composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Rossent went on to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, and a BAFTA Film Award for their score for the animated film Soul. In 2022, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” fans began noticing that Jon Batiste stopped appearing on the show as the bandleader over the entire summer. This sparked rumors of Batiste quietly exiting the show. In August 2022, the show’s host Stephen Colbert addressed the rumors about Jon Batiste’s exit from the show and confirmed that the musician will not be a part of the show anymore as he wishes to pursue his other “personal and professional interests.”
Who replaced Jon Batiste on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert?
After announcing the departure of Jon Batiste from the “Late Show”, host Stephen Colbert immediately introduced the songwriter Louis Cato to be the next bandleader and musical director for the show. For the unversed, Cato was the one who had filled in for Jon Batiste as the interim bandleader during Batiste’s absence from the show. Stephen Colbert announced the news of Louis Cato bagging the new role. Colbert said, "Louis has done a great job this summer, and he is very humble, so he won't say this. But I will. He's a musical genius. He can play basically every instrument on that stand over there. Give him an afternoon, he'll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn."
It was also announced that the name of the band would be changed from “Stay Human” (under the leadership of Jon Batiste) to “The Late Show Band” (under the leadership of Louis Cato).
What is The Late Show with Stephen Colbert?
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is an American late-night news and political satire talk show which premiered on September 8, 2015. The show’s current host is Stephen Colbert and revolves around him discussing and satirizing current events, especially within U.S. politics, and also witnesses various Hollywood stars making appearances on the show. Colbert took over the host duties after the show’s previous host and creator of the show David Letterman decided to retire. The show hosted by Colbert is one of the famous late-night shows that airs on CBS and is a strong competitor to Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon which also runs on CBS.
Before taking over the show, Stephen Colbert was previously known for hosting Comedy Central's news satire The Colbert Report.
