Stephen Colbert’s Final ‘Late Show’ Week: Byrne, Springsteen, and a Mystery Legend

The final week of Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ will unfold next week with guests that lean into the show’s longstanding connection to music and off‑kilter comedy. CBS confirmed the schedule, starting Monday with “The Worst of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” an hour described as “not a clip show,” suggesting something stranger than a standard highlights reel.

Tuesday pairs David Byrne with Colbert for a still‑undefined “special performance,” alongside appearances by Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Bruce Springsteen performs Wednesday, the same night Colbert turns his own “Colbert Questionert” on himself. The May 21 finale has no announced guests, but SPIN reports it will include one of the most legendary musicians of all time, a booking that fits the occasion without overstating it.

CBS framed the cancellation, announced in July 2025, as “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” not a response to Colbert’s political satire. Earlier this week, Colbert invited previous host David Letterman to the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where they threw furniture and a cake at a bullseye painted with the CBS logo. Letterman called the act “wanton destruction of CBS property” and said it brought “true joy to my heart.” The image lingers: a late‑night host lobbing a desk at the network’s emblem while his predecessor looks on, a gesture of blunt, physical disregard as a television era ends.