Jon Batiste Leaves His Position as Bandleader on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert

• Jon Batiste has resigned from his position as bandleader for Late Night with Stephen Colbert.
• Colbert broke the news of Batiste’s departure gently, explaining that he was leaving for all the best reasons.
• Louis Cato, who has been stepping in for Batiste over the summer, will assume his responsibilities

Jon Batiste has resigned from his position as bandleader for Late Night with Stephen Colbert. Thursday evening’s late-night host made the announcement. Louis Cato, who has been stepping in for Batiste over the summer, will assume his responsibilities. Stephen Colbert stated that the remainder of Batiste’s Stay Human group will remain together before introducing Louis Cato and the Late Show Band to his studio audience.

The album We Are by Batiste won the Album of the Year Grammy, one of its 11 nominations, earlier this year. He has received a total of five awards and shares an Oscar with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Soul’s Best Original Score.

Colbert broke the news of Batiste’s departure gently, explaining that he was leaving “for all the best reasons, including to continue sharing his art with the world.” Alas, the announcement did not include an in-person sendoff (Joe Walsh, the Eagles guitarist that has been sitting in with the group, was ready to pop out of a cake, apparently), but Colbert said he’s been “so lucky to have a front row seat to Jon’s incredible talent for seven years.”

Congratulations to our new band leader @realLouisCato and The Late Show Band!! pic.twitter.com/seLY92jeee

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— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) August 12, 2022

Batiste has led Colbert’s band since the show’s inception in 2015. The 35-year-old is a member of the famed Batiste family of musicians from New Orleans, which also includes composer Harold Batiste, clarinettist Alvin Batiste, Lionel Batiste of the Treme Brass Band, and Jon’s nephew Russell Batiste, a member of the Funky Meters. Early in their partnership, Colbert and Batiste travelled to New Orleans, where Jon exposed Stephen to his roots.