Stephen Colbert finally took the helm of the Late Show last night, and he wrapped up his premiere in spectacular fashion, with the help of more than a few special guests. As with Colbert’s sign-off from Comedy Central last winter, a number of familiar, if unexpected, faces appeared to back up Colbert’s house band, Jon Batiste and Stay Human. The motley crew jammed out to a lively rendition of “Everyday People” by Sly & the Family Stone—with Colbert providing an excellent vocal performance of his own. Here’s a full list of the performers who showed up to help Colbert and his band finish their first episode in style:
- Derek Trucks
- Buddy Guy
- Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard
- Aloe Blacc
- Susan Tedeschi
- Paul Janeway
- Ben Folds
- Beirut’s Kyle Resnick, Zach Condon, and Ben Lanz
- Mavis Staples
Update, Sept. 9, 3 p.m.: Now you can watch an annotated version of the performance, above.
