BTS performs ‘Boy with Luv’ on The Late Show: band channels The Beatles’ US debut
- In tailored black suits and with a drum emblazoned with the group’s name, BTS paid homage to The Beatles on The Late Show on Wednesday
- Host Stephen Colbert also offered his own tribute to a beloved predecessor: Ed Sullivan
On Wednesday night, as US television host Stephen Colbert prepared to welcome the wildly popular South Korean boy band BTS onto The Late Show, he noted that the K-pop phenomenon are “the first group since the Beatles to earn three No 1 albums in less than a year”.
When BTS performed a few minutes later, they took The Beatles comparison to heart, channelling the British band’s 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, an event that marked the Fab Four’s American debut.
Colbert offered his own tribute to a beloved predecessor: Ed Sullivan, who hosted his eponymous variety show across several decades from the very theatre where Colbert helms his late-night show. The theatre now bears Sullivan’s name.
The Late Show leaned into BTS’s homage, switching to black and white hues. Colbert surfaced post-commercial break with slicked-back hair and the pruned diction of a 1960s TV personality.
“And now for the performance you’ve been waiting for,” Colbert began. “These fabulous young lads from Seoul – really impressed all of us here – performing their song Boy With Luv, from their EP Map of the Soul: Persona, ladies and gentlemen, BTS.”