Jon Batiste Departs As Bandleader Of ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’

Jon Batiste, Grammy winner and longtime host of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, recently announced his departure.

On Thursday night (August 11), Stephen Colbert announced that Jon had decided to leave the show, but for “all the best reasons,” such as “continuing to share his art with the world.”
“We have been so fortunate to have a front row seat to Jon’s incredible talent for the past seven years,” he continued. What about right here? Will he be remembered? ‘Yeaaa!’ But we couldn’t be happier for you, and I for one can’t wait to have you back as a guest after your next big hit. It means “You are amazing.”

Louis Cato, who has been leading the band in Batiste’s absence this summer, has been named the show’s permanent bandleader. “He’s a musical genius,” Colbert declares. He’s a one-man band up there, capable of playing everything. He’ll have him playing Mozart on a shoehorn in an afternoon.

With 11, Batiste received the most Grammy Award nominations of any artist in 2022. He performed and received five awards, including album of the year for his work on We Are, which he won over Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Lil Nas X.