Elvis Costello Reveals He Was Almost Stephen Colbert’s Late Show Bandleader

Elvis Costello appeared on several episodes of Stephen Colbert's Late Show over the years, including the series finale this past May. He could have been on a lot more of them. Costello guested on the newest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, the podcast hosted by the mag's ace feature writer Brian Hiatt, to promote his new 49th anniversary reissue of debut album My Aim Is True. As Rolling Stone highlights, on the pod Costello told Hiatt he once submitted himself as a candidate to be Colbert's bandleader. "It was an impulsive thing to put myself forward. Steve asked my advice about that role," Costello recalled. "I said, 'What about me?' And I think he thought I was joking, and I said, 'No, I’m not joking.'" Costello got the idea after seeing the Roots, with whom he collaborated on the 2013 album Wise Up Ghost, find success as Jimmy Fallon's band on Late Night and The Tonight Show. The Roots had been unlikely candidates for such a gig when Fallon first recruited them in 2008, but the arrangement was a boon for them, raising their profile and offering them stability while still allowing them to tour and record at a reduced clip."I'd watched what happened with the Roots. I saw what t...