Late-Night Singing Lesson
The pair made for interesting collaborative partners, with Morris’ Grammy Award-winning skillset and Colbert’s relentless commitment to the bit
Maren Morris‘ Grammy-winning talent and Stephen Colbert’s relentless commitment to the bit made them the perfect pair of collaborators on the latest episode of The Late Show. Mid-interview, Morris and Colbert launched into a duet of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” prompted by the singer sharing stories about the weird places she would often perform it growing up, like at amateur wrestling matches when she was in high school.
With eons more experience under her belt, Morris stepped into the role of a vocal coach for Colbert, who admitted: “I know the bassline, I don’t know the melody.” Her first word of advice for the host was to start low. “That’s the rule. If you start too high, you forget you gotta go real high at the end on ‘Rocket’s red glare,’” she warned. Colbert took the notes to heart and delivered an unexpectedly impressive performance — even Morris looked visibly surprised at certain points.
“I want to sing that with you at an amateur wrestling match,” Colbert told Morris when they wrapped the song, dreaming of ways they can take their newfound duo on the road. The musician, understandably, doesn’t frequent those events much anymore. When she did, she was 15-years-old and getting paid $100 to sing for a minute and a half every weekend. “I had the most fun,” she said. “And it was a fun way to make money and be patriotic.”
Morris will be hitting the road solo later this year on a tour that will function similarly to Colbert’s off-hand request for her to sing the National Anthem with him. Her upcoming RSVP Redux tour, launching in late May, will allow fans in each city to choose the setlist she performs at their show.
