Jon Batiste has gotten the seven-year itch.
It’s officially a wrap for the longtime bandleader of “Late Night with Stephen Colbert.”
On Thursday night’s show, the host announced that the Academy and multiple Grammy Award winner will not be returning to the show, after seven years.
“Jon has decided to leave the show,” Colbert revealed on the show. “But it’s for all the best reasons, including to continue sharing his art with the world.”
“We have been so lucky to have a front-row seat to Jon’s incredible talent for the past seven years,” he continued, after explaining that Batiste is out of town and couldn’t be in the studio for a big sendoff. “But we’re happy for you, Jon, and I can’t wait to have you back on as a guest with your next hit record. I love you.”
Batiste, who won the 2022 Grammy Award for album of the year, has been on a summer hiatus since May. Many believed he was taking time off to focus on his wife, Suleika Jaouad, who was diagnosed with leukemia for the second time in early 2022.
Throughout the past few months, the 35-year-old Metairie, La., native filmed a role in the Scott Sanders-produced film adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Color Purple” and appeared as the spokesman for Amazon’s Prime Day campaign.
He’s also nominated for a 2022 Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding variety series as a producer of “The Late Show.”
Named one of the 100 most influential people of the year by Time magazine earlier this year, Batiste canceled his Carnegie Hall “American Symphony” debut after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in May.
Colbert told the “Late Show” audience that Louis Cato, who has been filling in since Batiste’s absence, will take over the role permanently.
Of the Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist, he said: “Louis has done a great job this summer, and he is very humble, so he won’t say this. But I will. He’s a musical genius. He can play basically every instrument over there. Give him an afternoon, he’ll learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn.”
“It has been one of the great honors of my life to work on this show, alongside some of the most talented musicians and creatives I know,” said Cato. “Watching and learning from both Jon and Stephen for these past seven years, I’m genuinely excited to continue the tradition of excellence they’ve established.”
The 37-year-old Portuguese-born Brooklyn resident has been with “The Late Show” since its launch. He will be joined by longtime house band members Joe Saylor, Louis Fouché, Jon Lampley, Endea Owens and Nêgah Santos.
The show’s eighth season will premiere Sept. 6.
