St. Vincent, James Taylor, and Joe Walsh mark first-ever The Late Show With Stephen Colbert musical residencies

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has a song in its strange little beating heart, and it appears the late-night show is finally ready to sing it loud and proud. The Late Show is introducing its first-ever slate of musical residencies, and St. Vincent, James Taylor, and Joe Walsh are the inaugural artists who will join the show.

Each residency will see the musician-of-the-moment sit in for a week with The Late Show’s house band, Stay Human. The new foray for the late-night classic will begin on July 25 with St. Vincent, a.k.a. Annie Clark, joining the group for a series of shows. Next, James Taylor, who released his last (and whopping 20th) album American Standard in 2020, will take the reins on August 1. Closing out the first group of performers is The Eagles’ Joe Walsh, who will join the show August 8.

Although The Late Show certainly isn’t wanting for prestige—the show brought home five Emmy nominations this year including Outstanding Talk Variety Series—Colbert is following the example set by some of his newer, and more prone to starring in the 2019 abomination Cats, peers. James Corden’s The Late Late Show has long featured musical residencies, welcoming acts like Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay.

Carpool Karaoke PTSD aside, bringing music to Colbert’s late-night playground actually feels more exciting than terrifying, especially with the high talent quotient between the three acts. Plus (per Deadline) each artist’s residency also marks the first time they’ve performed with a traditional group of late-night, in-house musicians like Stay Human. The skillful band is helmed by Oscar winner Jon Batiste and boasts the talents of Louis Cato, Nêgah Santos, Endea Owens, Louis Fouché, Jon Lampley and Joe Saylor.

To get a feel for how the residencies will run, it’s likely better to wait for July 25 to come around then turn to Corden’s example. At least we know we can expect some “Hotel California.”