Ever since Stephen Colbert took over as host on The Late Show, Jon Batiste has been by his side as the band leader for the house band Stay Human. Now, after seven seasons, it has sadly been announced that Batiste is leaving the show and will be replaced by Louis Cato. Cato joined Stay Human when the band was hired for The Late Show and has been serving as the interim bandleader this summer.
Batiste is an American musician who has been active in the music scene for over a decade, but in the past few years began to receive widespread recognition for his talents. In 2021, he won an Academy Award for his work on the score of Pixar’s Soul. Then, this very year he won five Grammy Awards from a total of eleven nominations. In the announcement of Batiste’s exit on Thursday night’s show, Colbert said he was leaving the program to “pursue personal and professional interests.”
While his exit from the show is sad, it does excite many of his fans who hope this means Batiste will have more time to work on the next album. As Colbert said:
“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 guest with your next hit record.”
Cato will take over the role of band leader in a permanent capacity when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's eighth season kicks off this September. Cato himself is a talented musician, able to play a variety of instruments. He also has experience being the show's band leader as he has been the go-to performer to fill in when Batiste was unavailable. It has also been announced that the band will be rebranded away from Stay Human and will become “The Late Show Band” under Cato’s leadership.
On Cato’s talent as a musician, Colbert commented, “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 over there. Give him an afternoon, he’ll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn.”
Cato gave his own statement on the announcement saying:
“It has been one of the great honors of my life to work on this show, alongside some of the most talented musicians and creatives I know. Watching and learning from both Jon and Stephen for these past seven years, I’m genuinely excited to continue the tradition of excellence they’ve established.”
Watch Colbert make the announcement on his show below: