Elvis Costello Reveals He Pitched Himself As the Bandleader Job For a Now-Canceled Late Night Show: ‘I Said, ‘What About Me?’

Elvis Costello revealed on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast that he once pitched himself for the bandleader job on the late-night show that eventually became The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The show, set to launch in September 2015 on CBS, eventually aired its final episode on May 21 of that year. Costello told the podcast host, "It was an impulsive thing to put myself forward.

I said, 'What about me?' And I think he thought I was joking, and I said, 'No, I'm not joking.'" He noted that he saw the success of The Roots and other acts in managing to navigate a busy gig schedule while also recording new music, and he thought that approach could work for his own band, the Impostors. Costello cited Branford Marsalis and his own father, Ross MacManus, as examples of musicians who had found success in similar roles.

However, after pitching the idea, Costello realized that it would not work for his band because they were scattered across the U.S. and Europe, and the relocation costs would have been prohibitive. Additionally, the show ultimately chose Jon Batiste, a scion of the Batiste New Orleans jazz dynasty, for the role. Despite the dream not coming to fruition, Costello said the idea was "nice to put my name in it" and did not harm the search for a suitable replacement.