Last night, Michael Stipe showed up on Stephen Colbert's Late Show with a sick beard. He sat down for a fun little interview and then performed a new unreleased song "The Rest Of Ever" for the first time live. Stipe performed with the Late Show's house band Louis Cato and The Great Big Joy Machine. He also announced that his first ever solo album is coming out at the end of this year.
"You look a little bit like a sea captain. Have you ever thought about putting on a captain's hat and getting a little more respect?" Colbert joked during their chat. Turns some of the lyrics on Stipe's forthcoming album are inspired by well-known sea shanties. He also said, "One of the songs is a sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time through a MIDI." Colbert had to repeat the sentence back to him to make sure we all heard that right. Stipe is joining the new wave of musicians tapping into biological frequencies and making music with plants—Deefhoof just announced a collaborative album with the office plants at their label.
"My friend recorded a tree in my backyard in Georgia and played it back to itself. It sounds like Daft Punk. But I'm putting a sea shanty, and I know you love sea shanty," Stipe said. Colbert enthusiastically agreed. Stipe shared he's using the lyrics from the shanty "Drunken Sailor" but had a written some new lines for it, having misheard the original. His new lyric? "Duct tape donkey ears, jelly wellies, early in the morning." So yes, those might be the lyrics for the Daft Punkian tree song.
Colbert also asked about when R.E.M. reunited, in 2024, to perform at the songwriters Hall Of Fame induction. It was their first time together on stage in over fifteen years. Stipe continued to explain that despite the band breaking up in 2011, they remain best friends and are in constant communication. "They're friends for life and my best friends. I'm really honored to have that." Okay, I'm crying!
There's also a bit where Colbert asked Stipe if there should be an R.E.M. biopic. They joked back and forth about who would play Michael Stipe. Colbert suggested David Cross, considering Stipe's robust new beard. When asked who would play a younger version of himself, Stipe had an intriguing suggestion: "Maybe Billie Eilish could do it." Colbert asked if he'd spent time with her. Stipe recalled one time she held a door open for him.
Check out the interview and his performance of "The Rest Of Ever" below.
