We’re gonna miss him when he’s gone. Well, except for one particular perennially online resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., anyway.
After 11 years and nearly 1,800 episodes, Stephen Colbert is winding down his run on The Late Show on May 21. The CBS late-night show has been a frequent target of ire for President Trump over his two terms in office, with Colbert relentlessly skewering the man he’s dubbed “Tangerine Palpatine” and Mar-a-Lardo” in his nightly monologues.
And while Trump and the FCC have not threatened Colbert in the same way they’ve attacked fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, in July 2025, CBS confirmed it was ending the franchise Colbert took over from David Letterman — who ended his run on May 20, 2015 — due to what it claimed were “financial constraints” and declining ad revenue.
Colbert has had plenty to say about why he thinks the beloved show is really ending, hardly holding his fire about his contempt and distaste for the Trump administration’s actions to restrain criticism of his administration, in much the same way he held previous presidents’ feet to the fire. OK, maybe a bit more, but can you blame him?
One of the things fans will miss the most is Colbert’s thoughtful, engaged interviews with his guests, from his deep geek-out sessions with most frequent guest astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, to last August’s toe-to-toe with Josh Brolin during an impromptu back-and-forth recitation from act 3 of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
We’ll also miss his team’s razor-sharp song parodies of the day’s headlines, short, pithy bits that often opened the show, setting the stage for finely tuned monologues filled with cutting wit and comedic bull’s-eyes of contempt. And while we’re at it, we threw in a few original tunes from the team that are just so perfectly perfect.
So, in honor of the last hurrah, we’ve gathered 11 of our favorite song parodies and loving tributes, from the anti-anti-immigration ditty “ICE ICE Baby” to the absolute papal banger “They Not Pious” and, of course, the Lord of the Rings tribute “Number One Triller.”
Check them out.
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“They Not Pious”
After a week in which Pope Leo XIV and President Trump exchanged pointed comments about each other over how they execute their jobs and their fealty to the word of God, The Late Show weighed in with an absolute killer parody of Kendrick Lamar’s infamous Drake beef kill shot “Not Like Us.”
Renamed “They Not Pious,” the “papal diss track” leaned into the first American Pope’s Chicago roots, opening with the faux Leo rapping, “Hey, peppers on my beef, yo/ Leo/ Here to defend my papacy, bro/ You got JD/ I got JC, though/ You keep Rubio/ I ride around with the holy trio/ I’m up in the Vatican/ You’re still in denial/ I’m the Holy See/ You’re the holy senile/ How many mentions of you in the Epstein files?/ Certified bestie with that certified pedophile.”
The refrain was, of course, “Pope, Pope, Pope, Pope, Pope.”
Check it out here.
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“Abhor-Rent”
Almost exactly a year to the day after a violent mob of Trump followers stormed the U.S. Capitol building after refusing to accept the results of the 2022 election, Colbert marked that solemn day with a hilarious send-up of the insurrectionist set to the strains of “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway musical Rent.
Titled “Abhor-Rent,” the song opens, “525,600 minutes, 365 days since feces were smeared/ 12,000 self-incriminating Instagram pictures/ One Viking shaman doing three and a half years/ Defectors, infectors, this guy tried to steal a lectern/ Stupid flags, huge douchebags/ And this a–wipe’s shoe.”
Along with showing images from that dark day in history, the chorus firmly places the blame on No. 45/47: “727 insurrectionists arrested/ Who else should be jailed for this unsuccessful coup?/ How about this bum?/ He’s traitorous scum/ Likes to stare at the sun/ Like Mussolini but dumb.”
Watch it here.
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“Baseball Diplomacy”
After Venezuela beat the U.S. at the World Baseball Classic in early 2026 — more than two months after Trump invaded the country to remove President Nicolas Maduro — The Late Show hit the ballpark for some diamond-sharp jibes about Trump’s fastball foreign affairs strategy.
“Take me out to Caracas/ Baseball is our sport now/ You may have taken our president/ In return we’ve taken Señor Met,” went the song cued to the strains of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
“We don’t want to be your brand new state/ Your president is senile/ And he’s un, dos, tres times in pics/ With that pedophile,” it continued, showing a series of pics of Trump with his late good friend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Watch the video here.
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“Trump’s Leaving Today”
In the middle of his first White House stint, Trump and First Lady Melania pulled up their roots in New York and officially became Florida residents. Colbert, of course, had something to say about that in the form of a remake of Frank Sinatra’s version of “Theme From New York, New York.”
With the house band providing jazzy backup, a Sinatra impersonator crooned, “Start spreadin’ the news, Trump’s leavin’ today/ He wants to be apart from it/ New York, New York/ Go tell the fake news/ He’s longing to stray/ Just like he’s done on every wife/ Uno, dos and tres,” hitting on Trump’s obsession with the mainstream news media and his history of divorce.
“I want to wake up, in a city without a Trump/ And let him stay in Palm Beach/ At his tacky gold dump,” the song continued.
Watch the video here.
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“Billionaires Are Actually Good”
Okay, technically this one is not a straight-up song parody, but rather an homage to boy band style balladry sending up the Gulfstream class with an assist from Traitors host Alan Cumming. “Billionaires are actually good/ Billionaires are better than us/ They buy planes and islands and hair,” Colbert croons over synths, electric drums and a slide depicting former DOGE boss Elon Musk’s suddenly lush hairline.
“Don’t believe me, Google it/ On Google, which is owned by billionaires/ Fly away on your big space penis/ Stash all your money in a bank on Venus/ They’re the best and no one is above them/ Billionaires are perfect and I love them,” Colbert swoons.
Watch Colbert and Cumming assure us that Epstein’s death was totally normal and that all billionaire ideas are perfect here.
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“Antichrist Superstar”
After the president posted a widely criticized AI picture of himself as a Jesus-like figure laying healing hands you better believe devout Catholic Colbert had something to say about the image.
In a parody of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic Jesus Christ Superstar Broadway show, Colbert offered up Antichrist Superstar, a retelling of the story of the son of God from a narcissist’s perspective. “Every time I look at you I don’t understand/ How those bloated cankles hold you up when you stand/ You fight with the Pope and pretend that you’re our savior/ There’s an explanation for that ridiculous behavior,” wails the singer over images of Trump’s offending post.
“Antichrist, is that what you are?,” sings a heavenly choir. “Did we elect Satan’s avatar?/ Antichrist at the omelet bar/ You once got spanked by a porno star.”
Watch the video here.
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“Bond Guy”
Sure, for the majority of Colbert’s run as Late Show host the news has been bad, very bad. But sometimes he takes a break from making the horrific headlines hilarious by just gleefully jumping into the pop culture pool. Take, for instance, this bit from 2020, where the host riffed on Billie Eilish’s at-that-time unreleased theme song for the James Bond movie No Time to Die.
Not sure how the then-18-year-old’s dark, emotional vibe would mesh with the secret agent’s perennially chic, effortlessly cool demenaor, he unspooled some of the images from Eilish’s wacky “Bad Guy” video and then played the Late Show-ized version. “James Bond/ You are a super spy/ Movie/ It’s called No Time to Die/ Get drunk, have sex and shoot a gun/ Being James Bond sounds fun/ He’s a Bond guy … duh,” a green-haired Eilish doppleganger whisper-sings in the spoof while bopping through scenes of artfully fired guns and men in suits, all while wearing a yellow sweatsuit similar to the one worn by the 18-year-old star in the original video.
Watch “Bond Guy” here.
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“I’ll Make Love to You (But We Don’t Have To)”
While Colbert’s avowed sweet spot is political satire, every once in a while the Tolkien-loving host just loves to sing, anything. Take, for instance, the time he invited Boyz II Men on in 2023 for a Valentine’s Special Report from Love Island on the state of romantic affairs.
“Close that door/ Wash this dish/ I’ll put all the forks away,” band member Nathan Morris croons in the send-up of the vocal group’s legendarily smooth 1994 R&B ballad “I’ll Make Love To You.”
“It’s our 15th Valentine’s Day/ We’re gonna celebrate/ Once this house is clean,” he adds, while putting on rubber gloves as bandmate Shawn Stockman assures his partner that if she isn’t up for romance they can see what’s on TV. “I’ll make love to you, if you want me to/ Unless you’re too tired/ Because I’m tired too,” they sing in perfect harmony, suggesting texting memes to each other instead touching screens.
When a shades-wearing Colbert busts in to croon about going to [crossword] puzzle town and all the other unsexy things about being an exhausted parent, you could almost forget it’s a fake song about real grown folks drama.
No pressure, watch the video here.
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“Deeply Unpopular”
Given that Trump’s two terms have almost exactly bookended Colbert’s run on the Late Show, it stands to reason that the former reality TV star is a frequent subject of song parodies. And at a time when Wicked: For Good was still ringing in our ears, earlier this year the host made some hay about Trump’s then deep unpopularity — which has since reached even lower lows — heading into 47’s 2026 State of the Union address.
“Unpopular, you’re deeply unpopular,” a fake Ariana Grande voice sings over footage from the Wicked movie in the spoof of “Popular” from the first chapter of the blockbuster two-part movie musical. Touching on Trump’s BFF status with autocrats and late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, it continues, “Dictators make you smile/ So does this pedophile/ You sent ICE to the heartland/ You tweet racist memes/ And make children scream/ With your hideous, corpse-like hands.”
Watch “Unpopular” here.
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“#1 Trilly”
If you know anything about Colbert, it’s that he is absolutely obsessed with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe. He mentions Peter Jackson’s epic films and the original books all the time and in his first post-Late Show move, he’s writing a new LOTR screenplay with his son Peter.
So, how could we not include his 20th anniversary tribute to the OG film from 2021, in which Colbert paid tribute to the best film series of all time with a certified heater. “It’s the number one trilogy/ The number one trilly/ Try to deny and you just sound silly,” Colbert and former bandleader Jon Batiste rhyme in unison.
“Worldwide gross of almost three billie/ 16 times what they made on Free Willy,” they continue, dissing the Godfather trilogy for its disgusting lack of any elves before introducing their partners in rhyme, the movie’s actors: Lil’ Merry (Dominic Monaghan), Big Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Samwi$e G (Sean Astin), who bust some hobbit bars with their pal Frodo Motha F%#$@&’ Baggins (Elijah Wood).
Sorry about that stray you caught, Anna Kendrick, but thanks for the extra verses Killer Mike Method Man, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Viggo Mortensen.
Watch “Number One Trilly” here (song begins at 1:30 mark).
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“Viva La Stephen”
After news broke about Colbert’s ouster, old pals “Weird Al” Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda hit the studio to cheer up the audience with … a Coldplay cover. “You got a funny parody, Al?” Colbert asked the dynamic duo. “No, I can’t think of anything funnier than Coldplay,” the song parody legend said.
After they began singing the group’s 2008 anthem “Viva La Vida,” Miranda put the focus on the studio audience, which happened to include some of Colbert’s biggest admirers, including Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, fellow late night hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, former Daily Show pals workers Jon Stewart and John Oliver, Happy Gilmore stars Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald, and, of course, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. It even included a Coldplay kiss-cam-related joke featuring a cartoon Trump lustily hugging a Paramount logo.
Sadly, like Colbert, the host informed Al and Lin that Paramount legal had canceled the song due to, ahem, what they dubbed a “purely financial decision.”
Watch “Viva La Stephen” here.
