Inside Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' finale – What you didn't see

NEW YORK CITY — For fans inside the Ed Sullivan Theater, the final taping of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Thursday, May 21, was TV history unfolding before their eyes − and then it was history repeating itself.

Departing host Stephen Colbert joined Paul McCartney onstage to sing the Beatles classic "Hello, Goodbye" to end the final show in sensational fashion. Colbert loved the moment so much he called for an encore, according to audience member Ray Lingenfelter from Eugene, Ore.

“They actually did that take twice, which you might also not see on TV, but Stephen got so excited that he said, 'You don’t get to sing with the Beatles every day,'" Lingenfelter tells USA TODAY. "So he sent everyone back into position one, and they did [the song] again a second time."

The cameos during Colbert's last show

During the live taping, Colbert was greeted by an all-star lineup that included Ryan Reynolds, Elvis Costello, Paul Rudd and former band leader Jon Batiste.

"There was a lot of emotion," Batiste says after exiting the building, as he waved to fans and jumped into a waiting SUV.

"It was a very sentimental show," adds Lingenfelter. "There were a lot of cameos. A lot of people popped up."

Steve Hannis, from Mountaintop, Penn., says he drove to NYC thinking that McCartney would be a final guest.

“I didn’t have any inside information. Everything added up to me to make sense," notes Hannis, adding that "everyone went crazy" when McCartney stepped out from backstage.

After "Hello, Goodbye," Hannis says the assembled band started jamming to a new song with the made-up lyrics, "We love you, Stephen Baby." And later on, McCartney was handed a trumpet for "When the Saints Come Marching In," led by New Orleans-born Batiste.

Following the taping, there were 'sentimental speeches'

After the finale had ended, "Late Show" colleagues like band leader Louis Cato gave "some very sentimental speeches," says Lingenfelter.

“He is Stephen’s true friend, who said that behind-the-scenes, [Colbert] is this remarkable person," Lingenfelter says. "And that’s not something he had seen a lot in the entertainment industry.”

Lingenfelter has seen a taping of "The Late Show" before − but it was nothing like the historic TV finale.

"Only 20 percent of the show seemed normal," says Lingenfelter. “They were throwing a celebration. They were all very excited to be here and do it for so long. But you could tell some of their jokes about getting canceled became a little bit more pointed because they didn’t want to go."