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'The Colbert Report' finale: group sing-a-long w/ Jeff Tweedy, Michael Stipe, Big Bird & more ++ NMH's "Holland, 1945"

Colbert

The Colbert Report aired its final episode last night (12/18) after nine seasons on Comedy Central. At the end, Randy Newman and Jon Stewart came out to help Stephen Colbert sing the 1939 standard “We’ll Meet Again” and soon they were joined by stageful of celebrity guests, including Willie Nelson, Michael Stipe, Jeff Tweedy, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Cranston, Tom Brokaw, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ric Ocasek, James Franco, Patrick Stewart, Arianna Huffington, George Lucas, Henry Kissinger, and many, many more. You can watch that below.

Then, instead of the usual closing-credits music, Colbert used Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Holland 1945.” Slate notes that the song, from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, has special importance to Colbert who lost his father and two brothers in a plane crash. You can watch the whole episode over at Comedy Central.

Colbert will succeed David Letterman at CBS’ The Late Late Show sometime after May 2015.