Late Show with Stephen Colbert welcomes Paul McCartney as final guest 62 years after Beatles played historic Ed Sullivan Theatre
Stephen Colbert bid farewell to The Late Show after over a decade on the air – but not without an epic final guest.
Half way through the last-ever episode, the 62-year-old host unexpectedly welcomed Beatles legend Paul McCartney, 83, to the stage.
The moment proved historic as McCartney and his Beatles bandmates – John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison – famously made their first TV appearance in the United States at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where Colbert is filmed, 62 years ago.
More than 73 million viewers tuned into the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964 to catch The Beatles’s performance – which officially sparked ‘Beatlemania’ in the U.S.
Moments before McCartney’s surprise appearance on Thursday’s show, Colbert joked that Pope Leo was set to be his last guest but he refused to leave his dressing room.
The scenario played out in a hilarious sketch with Colbert begging a fake Pope Leo to come to the stage before the imposter threw a Chicago-style hot dog out of his dressing room door in disgust.
Stephen Colbert bid farewell to the the Late Show after over a decade on the air – but not without an epic final guest appearance
Just minutes before the conclusion of his last-ever episode, the 62-year-old host welcomed Beatles legend Paul McCartney , 83, to the stage
‘The Pope – who was definitely my guest tonight – has canceled,’ Colbert exclaimed from behind his desk.
‘We already sent the other stars away,’ Colbert said, referring to cameos from Ryan Reynolds and other A-listers who stopped by the studio on Thursday. ‘This is terrible.’
He then asked, ‘Who is going to be my last guest now?’
Then, from offstage, McCartney yelled out to Stephen.
‘Hey Stephen! What about me? I can do it,’ the musician said earnestly as he slowly walked out in front of the audience.
The shocked crowd erupted in roaring applause and cheers as McCartney and Colbert warmly embraced for the camera.
Colbert called McCartney his ‘perfect last guest’ as the rocker joked he was ‘just in the area’ and decided to stop by.
He then presented Colbert, who is a massive fan of the Beatles, with an incredible gift.
Pulling the present out from behind McCartney’s chair, Colbert revealed a framed, colorized photo of the Beatles performing on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The audience went wild for the music legend
The moment proved historic as McCartney and his Beatles bandmates – John Lennon , Ringo Starr and George Harrison – famously made their first TV appearance in the United States at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where Colbert is filmed; seen in 1964
‘That’s here,’ Colbert remarked, referring to the Ed Sullivan Theatre.
The photo was signed by McCartney and included a personal message to Colbert in cursive.
‘”To Stephen, you’re better than the Beatles,”‘ Colbert read aloud as McCartney insisted that that wasn’t what the note actually said.
Colbert thanked McCartney for the ‘lovely’ gift before asking him if he can ‘still hear the girls screaming’ from his Beatles days when he closes his eyes inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre.
‘Yeah,’ McCartney responded enthusiastically, which prompted the entire studio audience to recreate the famous Beatlemania fanfare he experienced at the time.
Further recalling the iconic performance, McCartney shared that Sullivan, a TV pioneer who died in 1974, was ‘really nice’ to the band and a ‘really cool guy.’
Colbert asked McCartney to share what he remembers from that day 62 years ago.
‘You know, we had never been to America,’ he began. ‘We come here and people said it’s like the biggest show. To tell you the truth, we had never heard of [Ed Sullivan] in England.
Moments before McCartney’s surprise appearance, Colbert joked that Pope Leo was set to be his final guest but that he refused to leave his dressing room
The scenario played out in a hilarious sketch with Colbert begging a fake Pope Leo to leave his dressing room before the imposter threw a Chicago-style hot dog in disgust
As Colbert moaned that all his ‘stars’ had already left for the night, McCartney emerged from offstage and offered to be the host’s last guest
‘But yeah, it was fantastic,’ he added.
McCartney said he and the Beatles, who were in their early 20s at the time, were ‘very pleased’ with their debut performance, which included live renditions of five of their hits – All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
They then returned to the show one week later on February 16, 1964 and again just months later on May 24, 1964.
The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a total of four times, with their final pre-taped appearance airing on September 12, 1965.
‘Looking back on it now, what I’m pleased with, we were live and we [sounded] good,’ McCartney said of their Ed Sullivan sets.
While McCartney, Lennon, Starr and Harrison were ‘a little bit nervous’ to perform on U.S. television for the first time ever, he said that they were also ‘young kids’ who were ‘sort of full of ourselves.’
To close out Colbert’s last-ever episode, McCartney whipped out his guitar and performed the Beatles’s 1967 hit Hello, Goodbye with Colbert and the Late Show band.
The performance also featured Jon Batiste, Louis Cato, and music legend Elvis Costello.
It brought the entire audience to their feet as Colbert emotionally sang along and savored his final seconds on the air.
McCartney gifted Colbert a signed photo of The Beatles performing on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964
Colbert thanked McCartney for the ‘lovely’ gift before asking him if he can ‘still hear the girls screaming’ from his Beatles days when he closes his eyes inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre
To close out Colbert’s last-ever episode, McCartney whipped out his guitar and performed The Beatles’s hit Hello, Goodbye with Colbert and the Late Show band
The performance also featured Jon Batiste, Louis Cato, and music legend Elvis Costello
The song brought the entire audience to their feet as Colbert emotionally sang along and savored his final seconds on the air
The comedian has spent nearly 11 years at the helm of The Late Show, taking over as host in September 2015 from David Letterman.
The 79-year-old launched the late-night talk show in 1993 and retired after 22 years.
A number of celebrities have helped Colbert bring the show to a close this week, including Ryan Reynolds, Jon Stewart and Steven Spielberg.
His rivals, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, will both air reruns on Thursday night out of respect for the departing star.
Colbert shockingly announced on July 17 that Paramount/CBS would not be renewing his contract after 11 years on the air, and they would end the late-night program.
At the time, the network claimed it was ‘purely a financial decision,’ but the cancellation came days after Colbert called Paramount/CBS’s $16 million lawsuit settlement with President Donald Trump ‘a big fat bribe.’
Paramount was also in the midst of a multibillion-dollar merger with the movie studio Skydance, which requires the government approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Immediately after the show ends, Colbert will be hosting a Fired and Festive wrap party for the Late Show.
Colbert has spent nearly 11 years at the helm of The Late Show, taking over as host in September 2015; Pictured with Trump in an episode from September 2015
He took the reins from David Letterman, 79, who launched the late-night talk show in 1993; Seen with Letterman in 2023
His roster of high-profile guests includes Taylor Swift; Seen on the show in December 2025
Fallon (pictured left) and Kimmel (pictured right) gave Colbert an unusual send-off by going dark in late-night solidarity. Instead, their shows aired reruns
As reported by Variety, invites for the bash are topped with the show’s red, white and blue logo which has been tweaked to saw: ‘The LAST SHOW with Stephen Colbert’.
The invitations add: ‘That’s a WRAP! (PARTY)’.
The dress code is said to be ‘Fired and Festive’, and the event will take place at a nearby event space close to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City.
It has been reported that there will be ‘many celebrities’ at the after party, which is being taped.