{"id":2181810,"date":"2026-10-06T15:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2181810"},"modified":"2026-10-06T15:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:37:28","slug":"elvis-costello-reveals-he-pitched-himself-as-the-bandleader-job-for-a-now-canceled-late-night-show-i-said-what-about-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2181810","title":{"rendered":"Elvis Costello Reveals He Pitched Himself As the Bandleader Job For a Now-Canceled Late Night Show: \u2018I Said, \u2018What About Me?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/P103HP09-e1791298210402.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe late, beloved Late Show With Stephen Colbert<\/em> almost had a very different vibe before it launched in September 2015 on CBS. At least according to Elvis Costello. On this week\u2019s episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now<\/em> podcast, the \u201cVeronica\u201d singer revealed that before the show\u2019s original bandleader, Jon Batiste, got the gig, he pitched himself for the job.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Paul<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tPaul McCartney Is Stephen Colbert\u2019s Final Musical Guest on \u2018The Late\u00a0Show\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Ashlee<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tLorne Michaels Claims \u2018SNL\u2019 Has \u2018Never Banned\u2019 Any Musical\u00a0Guests\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Lorde<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tLorde Calls Out Robert Kraft in \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 Jacket Following Ed Sheeran, Macklemore Tour Controversy\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was an impulsive thing to put myself forward,\u201d Costello said of his offer to have himself an his band, the Impostors, serve as the house band on the show that was canceled by the network and aired its final show on May 21 of this year. \u201cSteve asked my advice about that role. \u2026 I said, \u2018What about me?\u2019 And I think he thought I was joking, and I said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not joking.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tWhile a Colbert spokesperson did not comment on the report, Costello said there were \u201cserious discussions\u201d about him taking on the role that he said he pitched after watching acts such as the long-running Tonight Show<\/em> house band The Roots deftly navigate a four-show-a-week gig while also recording new music and avoiding the grind of touring.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI saw what the Roots had achieved across town, you know, that they had saved their own lives, and those of their family around them, by coming off the road. I thought maybe that would be good for us,\u201d Costello said of his band. \u201cIt hadn\u2019t inhibited them [from] making more records and working on things, and it put them at a center.\u201d He cited some other predecessors who made it work, including former Tonight Show<\/em> bandleader (1992-1995) jazz great Branford Marsalis, as well as his own father, Ross MacManus, an English trumpet player and radio dance band singer who frequently appeared on the BBC.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I had continuity with the idea,\u201d said Costello, 72, who noted that after he pitched himself (and his band) he quickly realized the idea might not work for them, as they\u2019re scattered across the U.S. and Europe, including France-based keyboardist and longtime collaborator Steve Nieve.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI started to think about how much it asked of my bandmates, that they would all have to relocate,\u201d said Costello, who is the only member of the group based in New York, where the show taped. \u201cIt would have never worked. We would\u2019ve been asking an awful lot, and the money involved and everything would\u2019ve been unbelievable \u2026 to relocate three band members to New York,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\n\tPlus, Costello said, the choice of songwriter\/singer\/producer and actor Batiste, a scion of the Batiste New Orleans jazz dynasty, was spot on, even if the dream made him smile. \u201cIt would have never worked for a whole number of reasons, but it was nice to put my name in it, and I don\u2019t think it exactly did any harm to the conversation and the search for somebody who was truly suited to it, and, of course, took it on to such a wonderful career outside of television,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBesides, Costello is convinced it would not have worked out and that he\u2019d probably get fired \u201cin about three weeks,\u201d not by Colbert, but probably by CBS. \u201cI would\u2019ve said or done the wrong thing for sure,\u201d said the singer. \u201cIt was like a dream I had for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCostello famously got blanked from Saturday Night Live<\/em> for more than a decade after he bamboozled the show (and his label) and performed the This Year\u2019s Model<\/em> classic \u201cRadio Radio\u201d on the show instead of his agreed-upon debut single, \u201cLess Than Zero\u201d in a fit of punk provocation; he did not appear on SNL<\/em> again until 1989.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough he missed out on the steady gig, Costello ended up making an appearance on the May 21 Late Show<\/em> finale, where the host sang the My Aim Is True<\/em> deep cut \u201cJump Up\u201d with Costello, Batiste and his bandleader successor, Louis Cato, as part of a medley that featured a Paul McCartney-led \u201cHello Goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/elvis-costello-reveals-pitched-himself-band-leader-late-show-1236354979\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/P103HP09-e1791298210402.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard The late, beloved Late Show With Stephen Colbert almost had a very different vibe before it launched in September 2015 on CBS. At least according to Elvis Costello. On this week\u2019s episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, the \u201cVeronica\u201d singer revealed that before the show\u2019s original bandleader, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2181810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2181810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2181810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2181810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2181810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}