David Byrne Performs on Final Episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

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Watch David Byrne Burn Down the House With Stephen Colbert

Pouring one out for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert , which ends this Thursday By Nina Corcoran May 20, 2026 Save this story Save this story

In case you missed it, CBS is pulling the plug on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this Thursday despite its high ratings, seemingly due to political pressure from President Donald J Trump. As Stephen Colbert stares down his final days hosting the show, he’s organized extra special programming for the week-long farewell, including last night’s (May 19) fiery live performance of “Burning Down the House” with David Byrne . What began with the Talking Heads frontman on acoustic guitar evolved into a full-band affair on the TV stage, complete with Colbert joining the group to sing and dance along. Watch a replay below.

Colbert and Byrne go way back, at least as far as his time hosting The Late Show goes. Before they bust out that live rendition from 1983’s Speaking in Tongues , the host had Byrne on to discuss his new album, Who Is the Sky? , and play a song this past March; perform an American Utopia cut back in 2018 followed by a dance tutorial behind its Broadway adaptation in 2021; and reunite all four members of Talking Heads on Colbert’s couch for a rare interview in 2023.

Who Is the Sky? is Byrne’s ninth studio album, with the entire record being written and performed with the New York ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra. They’ve been playing nonstop in support of that new album and they’re nearing the end of that extensive world tour . Byrne still has a run across Europe left, though, which includes festival performances at Roskilde, Mad Cool, and Latitude.

Read about Byrne in The 66 Most Anticipated Tours of Spring 2026 .

_Originally reported by [Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-david-byrne-burn-down-the-house-with-stephen-colbert/)._