Michael Stipe debuts unreleased solo song 'The Rest of Ever' on 'Colbert'

'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' and musical guest Michael Stipe during Thursday’s April 23, 2026 show. (Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe debuted an unreleased song off his upcoming debut solo album Thursday night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The track is called "The Rest of Ever." Stipe sang lead vocals while backed by the Colbert house band, Louis Cato and The Great Big Joy Machine.

Stipe also sat down with Colbert for an interview and revealed that the long in-the-works album, which he's been teasing since at least 2022, is finally set to be released at the end of 2026. He described one song on the record as "the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time," which apparently sounds like Daft Punk.

Elsewhere in the interview, Colbert asked Stipe who should play him if R.E.M. ever got their own biopic. After first replying, "Someone really hot," Stipe thought about it for a bit before suggesting, "Maybe Billie Eilish could do it."

"She held a door open for me once at a restaurant in Manhattan," Stipe said of the alt-pop star. "I don't know if she knew who I was. She's incredibly polite and sweet, but I didn't know who she was until she was down the street."

Colbert then offered to introduce Stipe to Eilish and her brother and collaborator, FINNEAS.

Stipe also released a new song called "I Played the Fool" in March, which is the theme to the HBO series Rooster.