late night
Last fall, R&B singer October London performed “Back to Your Place” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a Snoop Dogg introduction and a seven-piece band including harp and violin players. In other words, the performance wasn’t cheap — and probably far more expensive than the few thousand dollars late-night talk-show guests typically receive under union rules.
According to London’s manager, Adrian L. Miller, the appearance, which has scored 281,000 YouTube views so far, was worth it. London’s more stripped-down GMA3 performance in February had even more concrete benefits, boosting ticket sales for the singer’s show at Brooklyn Steel later that night by 100. “It’s not nothing,” Miller says. “It’s good to have the logos and the exposure through TV.”
Still, Miller concedes that the promotional benefits of late-night TV performances aren’t as great as they were in the 2000s. Back then, Jay Leno and David Letterman frequently drew 4 million to 6 million nightly viewers, compared with the roughly 1.5 million to 3 million viewers top talk shows draw today. Plus, he says, “A lot of an artist’s audience is not on television. They’re not watching these shows.”
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For many acts, especially developing artists seeking viral moments, the return on investment for late-night and daytime talk-show performances has become too minuscule to be effective. “They have, like, 2 million viewers of these shows, and that’s what we get on daily posts on TikTok,” says Ethan Curtis, manager of singer-songwriter JVKE, who played The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2022. “It’s an energy drain. We travel and train for the performance and do it in one take. It doesn’t feel worth it for every song.”
And while audiences are down, the cost of mounting a memorable televised performance is way up. Another of Miller’s clients, singer-rapper Anderson .Paak, spent “out of pocket, almost six figures,” he says, for a 2017 Ellen appearance. “Everybody wants a creative director now, and the stylist and the hair and the makeup,” a major-label source says. According to label and management sources, expenses for talk-show performances range from $150,000 to $225,000 — or as high as $700,000 for a potentially career-making Saturday Night Live opportunity.
Targeted talk-show performances sometimes redeem the expense. When JVKE played “Golden Hour” on Fallon in late 2022, his team wanted to “elevate him from a TikTok artist to a ‘real artist,’” Curtis says. “That’s when the late-night show served a purpose: ‘Let’s have an example of JVKE existing outside of TikTok.’ We chopped up the footage, reposted it on social media.” (JVKE’s Fallon performance is no longer available on his socials, but a Tonight Show YouTube video of him “playing my song for the Roots” beforehand has 358,000 views.)
“Most bands come in with the same amount of crew and backline as if they were putting on a show. They ask the record label to pay for it and [labels] don’t want to,” says Chris Gentry, who managed Phoenix in 2009 when the band’s SNL appearance helped turn its album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix into a smash.
In an analysis of 458 artist appearances on top talk shows such as Kimmel, Fallon, Ellen, SNL and The Late Late Show With James Corden, music data analyst Chartmetric found the artists’ monthly Spotify listeners averaged 1.78% more the week after the show. Some artists’ distinctive performances make a bigger impact: BTS on SNL in 2019 and Bartees Strange on Kimmel in 2022 both boosted their monthly Spotify listeners by nearly 85%.
Other talk-show performances barely register. Chartmetric reports that 192 artists experienced decreases in monthly Spotify listeners after their talk-show gigs; London’s Kimmel performance in October had minimal impact on his Spotify metrics. “We’ve had these conversations for a long time: Late night doesn’t move the needle,” says the major-label source, who nonetheless remains a proponent of such appearances because “Jimmy Fallon or NBC helps spread a piece of digital content in an era when we’re constantly trying to break through the noise.”
While Ken Weinstein, a veteran publicist whose company, Big Hassle, represents Phish, Jack White, the Pretenders and many others, acknowledges “labels are definitely more thoughtful about how they spend the money,” he adds that prominent talk-show performances can have promotional benefits far beyond the initial TV appearances. “Honestly, the appearance itself is as valuable as ever,” he says. “Only in a few instances really are there giant sales bumps from a particular TV appearance — but the conversation it begins is still very relevant, very powerful.”
Peter Katsis, who manages Bush, booked frontman Gavin Rossdale on Fallon in January; a Tonight Show Instagram clip of “Glycerine” scored 344,000 views, and numerous media outlets covered the performance. “It’s really not about what Fallon‘s numbers are anymore,” says Katsis. “It really starts with what you decide to do with the opportunity. All that stuff becomes way more valuable than just that initial appearance.”
“Everything’s more expensive, which is the reason to do it at the right time and have it be part of a larger plan,” says Diana Miller, supervising producer for The Talk, which recently booked Bush and Rachel Platten, adding that shows often negotiate with artists over paying a portion of their expenses, in addition to the low thousands of dollars in union rates they pay musicians to appear. “How much would four minutes be for advertising on this show? You can’t just promote to your own fanbase. You can’t assume Ariana Grande fans know she has new music out.”
Some artists have taken it upon themselves to economize. The Lemon Twigs, a band from Long Island, played Fallon in late January with a “very stripped-back backline” and “hardly any money at all,” according to Gentry, who manages the group. “We did it really for the cost of the flight for the drummer from L.A.,” he says. “What’s interesting right now with Fallon is how social media plays into it — 14 million on Instagram, 15 million on TikTok. It’s almost like you get more now.”
This story will appear in the March 30, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Looking late night ready in a pin-striped white jacket, black pants and crisp white shirt, Justin Timberlake pinch-hit for 2024 Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday night (March 11), subbing in for the late night host’s monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The multi-hyphenate singer who returned later to perform he debut of his upbeat new […]
Dua Lipa and Seth Meyers got tanked on Monday night (Dec. 11) in the latest edition of the late night host’s boozy bit “Day Drinking” segment. In keeping with the theme of the singer’s latest single, “Houdini,” Meyers started out with a run of mixed drinks with magical qualities, including a “Houtini,” which mixed vodka, tequila blanco, white rum and a hard pour of curaçao. The addition of some lemon juice “magically” changed the color of the drink, which Meyers dubbed “a wildly unimpressive effect.”
From the looks of the frown on Dua’s face, it was also had a wildly unimpressive taste.
Things didn’t get much better with a gummy-infused concoction called an “Abracadabra,” featuring Harry Potter butter beer. The shenanigans just got more confusing as the bit went on, with Meyers subjecting the singer to a game called “Pick a Card, Any Card,” whose categories included alcohol, common mixers, uncommon mixers and the dreaded “dusty old bottles you’d sneak a drink from at your grandparents.”
In the latter, we learned that Lipa pronounced bourbon “borbon,” which delighted Meyers as he began making the world’s worst drink, which blended borbon, soda, green juice and calvados, a drink the host promised would “suck ass.” It just got worse from there with a drink that mixed tequila, Red Bull, pumpkin spice latte and Campari, dubbed the “Second Wind,” which the pair said could be summed up by one word: “curdling.”
In another round inspired by Houdini, Meyers and Lipa lined up a round of shots and had to down them to find out if they were alcohol or water, with the “Levitating” singer hitting booze three times in a row before striking agua.
Finally, they got to a game inspired by Dua’s single “IDGAF,” in which Meyers asked Dua a question, to which she could answer “I don’t give a f–k” or take a shot. She struck first, asking Meyers to rank his three children in order from least to most favorite: that one ended up with a shot. When Meyers asked Dua to name the most famous person who has slid into her DMs, she laughed and took the shot.
Meyers wasn’t so tame when it came to a question about which of his Strike Force Five podcast co-hosts he liked the least, looking at the camera and slurring, “I don’t think the British should be allowed to have talk shows,” he said, seemingly calling out Emmy magnet and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver. “We found the revalsuh… the Revolutionary War… John Oliver, go back home.”
“Wow, you hate the Brits!” Dua said laughing. “I don’t hate the Brits, I just f–king hate you, John,” Meyers slurred as a promo card for a series of upcoming Oliver/Meyers joint stand-up tour dates filled the screen. After Lipa served up her favorite Albanian swear word, the singer declined to name one of the “many fake-ass b–ches in the world,” while Meyers was happy to say what he hates about being a dad (“they’re so dumb.”)
When things got serious near the end, Dua took the Lizzo road and refused to pick between Oprah and Beyoncé, but the host did get her to sing “Happy Birthday” in her best Cockney accent. They then became the most annoying people in the bar when they tried to match each other’s high notes and ended with the traditional drunk’s prayer: “you’re my best friend.”
Watch Dua Lipa go day drinking with Seth Meyers below.
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If it’s not already cold enough for you out there, Olivia Rodrigo served up some serious pop chills on Monday night (Dec. 11) during a performance of her soundtrack song for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, “Can’t Catch Me Now.” Fresh off a cake-smashing Saturday Night Live performance and a trip […]
BTS are no strangers to late-night talk shows, whether its putting on a jaw-dropping performance or showing off their personalities in interviews. Now, the group is joining the late-night scene one at a time, with Jung Kook set to make his solo Tonight Show debut on Monday, Nov. 6, as a guest and performer. Jung Kook’s […]
Get ready for a bumper car of monologue jokes about how they spent their summer. The four hosts of the major networks’ late-night talk shows will all be back in the saddle on Monday (Oct. 2) following the resolution this week of the 146-day strike by Hollywood writers. NBC announced in a statement that The […]
As the Hollywood strikes continue, five of the most popular late-night talk show hosts had an idea to meet up every week to discuss the complexities behind the ongoing discussions and protests. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news As a result, Spotify revealed on Tuesday (Aug. 29) […]
On Thursday night (April 27), James Corden aired the emotional final episode of his late-night talk show. In honor of his eight-year run, the host welcomed a series of stars throughout the show, which was preceded by an hourlong primetime special dubbed The Last Last Late Late Show With James Corden.
“I’m James Corden, and for the last time, this is the Late Late Show,” the host said as the crowd cheered his name.
Leave it to Corden to lighten the mood – and keep it that way throughout both programs. He fittingly opened the special with a pre-taped musical number that began as a ballad, which he sang from the roof of the CBS lot.
“We’ve been here for eight years and we’ve had so many laughs,” he started, before the song transformed into a pop banger as he declared, “Let’s blow CBS dough one last time … Go big or go home on my last day in the sunshine.”
And that he did. Below are the best music moments from Corden’s double-feature final hurrah — including Tom Cruise making his stage musical debut, hitting the road with Adele for the final Carpool Karaoke, gathering all the current late-night hosts for one final goodbye, welcoming Harry Styles and Will Ferrell as his final guests, and closing the episode in song, of course.
Corralling Tom Cruise Into a Broadway Musical
One year ago, while riding in a fighter jet flown by none other than Tom Cruise, Corden contemplated doing a musical. Today, during the primetime special, he took action.
Corden and Cruise are shown meeting up at the Hollywood venue Pantages, where The Lion King was currently showing. “You, my boy, are in the theater,” Corden says in awe. “And I have a treat for you. Today, you’re going to enter my world. … You and me are about to join the cast of the biggest show in Broadway history. We will perform live in The Lion King.”
“I say… no,” says Tom. But seconds later, the two are seen practicing their jazz hands and doing vocal warmups to the Mission Impossible theme. Together, they perform in the show as both a rhino during the opening number and later as Timon and Pumba for “Hakuna Matata.” After the show wraps, Cruise and Corden duet as themselves – Corden sits alone onstage and Cruise is at a bar down the street – on “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” It’s safe to say at the end of tonight, Corden was feeling the love.
One Final ‘Carpool Karaoke’ With Adele
Though it premiered online earlier this week, the final Carpool Karaoke segment, which featured Corden’s close friend Adele, hit harder in the context of the show’s farewell special.
After surprising James with a smashing-cymbals wake-up call at his home, Adele drives the host to work as they sing and reminisce along the way. After “Rolling In the Deep,” Corden recalls how “everyone on planet Earth” declined to participate in the segment early on, until Mariah Carey became the first to agree. And though she warned she wouldn’t sing, she finally gave in when “Always Be My Baby” came on – and a franchise was born.
Corden and Adele then deliver “Love Is a Game,” and before singing “I Drink Wine” Adele shares a touching story of how Corden inspired what she believes to be “some of the best writing I’ve ever done.” As she begins to tear up, she recalls a conversation the two had during a long drive home from a joint family vacation. “I felt so unsafe with you feeling unsafe,” she tells Corden, who was struggling with work and “the Internet” at the time. “I went to the studio a couple weeks later and I wrote this.”
To end, they belt Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl classic “Don’t Rain on My Parade” followed by the epic closer of “Hometown Glory,” after which Adele begins to cry. Before hopping out of the car, Corden fittingly lightens the mood, saying with a laugh, “We’re seeing each other tomorrow!”
A Late-Night Host Farewell
In a brief skit during the show’s last episode, all the current late-night hosts – Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon (plus a brief cameo from David Letterman) – came to speak to Corden in a dream. As they filled Corden’s bedroom, they discussed staking a claim to Corden’s franchises now that they’re up for grabs. After pulling out papers to read what they each wanted, they said in unison: “Carpool Karaoke.”
“I do have other bits,” joked Corden.
The sketch then flashed forward to six months from now, during which Corden is seen competing against another former late-night host, The Daily Show alum Trevor Noah, on The Masked Singer.
Whether or not that was a tease… only time will tell.
Harry Styles’ Big Reveal
Corden welcomes Will Ferrell and good friend Harry Styles – who even has Late Late tattooed on his forearm – to the show, both of whom are the last-ever guests. As Corden and Styles begin to discuss the Grammys, Ferrell chimes in, deadpan as always, “Can I ask: What are the Grammys?”
Styles then recounts how his performance didn’t go as planned, considering the stage spun the wrong way, noting, “It was probably… it wasn’t very good.”
He then speaks of his favorite Late Late Show memories, from making the music video for “Daylight” together to playing dodgeball with One Direction against Michelle Obama. As for his least favorite? The crosswalk concert he did while incredibly sick. “There was a point hanging above the street where I was like, ‘What the f— am I doing?’” Styles said with a laugh.
The three then played one final round of Spill Your Guts, during which Harry’s question asked: “Yes or no, will there be a One Direction reunion?”
“You know,” started Styles, “I feel that it’s not a yes or no question. I would never say never to that. I think if there was a time we all felt that we wanted to do it, I don’t see why we wouldn’t.”
Styles then wrapped with a heartfelt message for Corden, telling the host how incredibly proud and inspired he is by all Corden has accomplished. “On a personal note, you’ve been a safe space to me always … and I’m selfishly very excited that you’re coming home.”
Corden’s Closing Ballad
As the show’s final segment – a musical number, of course – is set up, a string section and piano can be heard getting in tune. And as Corden takes his seat behind the keys, he partakes in an audience sing-along of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – keeping spirits high before delivering a tearful song to close the show for good.
“Now the last guest is gone from the green room and our last conversation is done,” Corden sings. “I’ve been squeezing myself into Spanx every night… So good night, thanks for watching, that’s our show…” he continues to sing despite becoming incredibly choked up.
Once the ballad ends, he stands to face the crowd, who is giving Corden a well-deserved standing ovation, to deliver one last parting line: “I’m gonna miss you all so much.”
One Direction were famous for not dancing. Sure, loyal Directioners were welcome to tear it up at their shows, but the fellas were not going to do a number for your amusement. But Niall Horan was happy to toss that edict aside, for one night anyway, when he played a choreo-happy pirate on The Late Late Show on Tuesday night (Feb. 28).
The singer, who has a long and fruitful friendship with soon-to-depart host James Corden, was game to play along in a bit in which a gaggle of show tunes-loving high seas marauders tortured their captive with strangely elaborate dance numbers. Wearing a traditional tricorn hat, ruffled white shirt, purple vest and scraggly beard, Horan warned the captured British soldier that he was lucky to be alive.
“This ship, and it’s booty is all ours!” he informed the British naval officer, warning that the person he should really be afraid of is their leader, the dreaded Dreadbeard. We know his name because Horan and Corden sang a whole song about it. “I bet you’ve heard a million tales that tell you who I am,” Corden crooned as a fife and drum track bubbled up out of nowhere and their fellow pirates broke out into a jig as the ship inexplicably lit up in neon lights.
“His name has traveled everywhere from England to Japan,” Horan growled, while their prisoner said the tune did answer his question about who was in charge, but in turn elicited way more questions. “Like what the hell was that?” he asked. “That whole song and dance routine? What was that for?”
“What for?” Horan snarled, barely containing his laughter. “To strike fear into your heart and spread the terrifying tale of Captain Dreadbeard.” Suffice it to say it did not do that and the captive seriously asked if this happened every time they boarded a ship.
Yes, in fact, it seems it does. Which, of course, elicited yet another elaborate number featuring their fellow pirates doing a delicate ribbon dance as Horan slipped into a seaweed-covered veil to portray a delicate siren of the deep while he and Corden shared a tender duet.
“I’m so confused right now, a mermaid broke your heart?” their hostage asked. “And whose idea were the ribbons?… And also, I’ve never met pirates before but I feel like there should be slightly less musical theater involved.” Turns out that was all Niall: he thought the ribbons added a “pop of color.”
The incessant questions sparked a mutiny among the crew, who then grumbled about the amount of high seas rehearsal they have to endure every day, along with gripes about who gets the leads in their marauder musicals. The bit ended with Horan and Corden doing an “All That Jazz”-style routine, complete with a tap dance break and Niall’s quick change into a glittery purple waistcoat for a bit-ending Rockettes high kick routine.
Horan’s forthcoming third solo album, The Show, is due out on June 9.
Watch Horan on The Late Late Show below.
Niall Horan made his final visit to the Late Late Show count on Thursday night (Feb. 16), crooning his new single, reminiscing about the time Katy Perry helped launch him into stardom and getting emotional about host and longtime friend James Corden winding down his midnight run.
Sharing the couch with Perry’s partner, actor Orlando Boom, Horan talked about how the “Teenage Dream” singer basically made his career happen in 2010 when she took a chance on his potential on X Factor. Corden rolled the tape of the moment when Perry told a blonde mop-topped, pimply-faced Niall that he needed more experience. “And by the way, just because you’re likable… likeableness isn’t going to sell records,” Perry said in 2010 as some in the audience howled.
“It’s talent and you have… a seed of it,” Perry added. “Of course, you’re in,” she said as Horan pumped his fists and shouted for joy. In a box at the bottom corner of the screen, present day Niall watched and smiled as the pivotal moment unfolded, clapping as Bloom freaked out.
“That is fantastic!” Bloom marveled. “Is that the moment that really changed your whole thing?” he asked Horan, who admitted that before Perry threw him a bone his audition was going “very south… Katy just kept me in the competition. If it wasn’t for her I definitely would not be here and she knows it.”
In addition to talking about shooting the upcoming season of The Voice with fellow newbie judge Chance the Rapper and returning chair-swivelers Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson, Horan performed a sweet acoustic take of his new single “Heaven.” After strumming a single chorus, Horan added another at Corden’s urging as the host looked on rapt with what can only be described as a moist-eyed, proud papa look on his face watching the 29-year-old singer who has been a frequent guest and become a close pal.
“That was so good, so good,” Corden whispered into Horan’s ear as he gave the former One Direction singer a warm, loving embrace. Bloom, meanwhile, snatched up Niall’s guitar pick and slipped it into his jacket pocket, promising to put it in a special place next to another one he owns from Prince.
“This is show 1,167… you have been, when you were in the band and now as a solo artist… the times that we’ve spent with you here, you are such a part of the family,” Corden said as he held Horan’s hand. The feeling was mutual, with Horan thanking Corden for hosting him so many times and becoming part of his off-screen life as well. Getting emotional, Horan talked about his long relationship with Corden and Late Late Show co-executive producer Ben Winston, saying he lost two friends with the pair moved to the U.S. to work on the show that will wind down later this year.
“Dude, you boys changed pop culture forever and your’e two very close friends of mine and I love you both,” he said as Corden cut to commercial while wiping away tears.
Check out Horan on The Late Late Show below.
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