Watch: Stephen Colbert’s star-studded finale

Stephen Colbert said goodbye to the "Colbert Report" on Thursday night, but fear not -- he's been immortalized.

Colbert, who's headed to CBS to take over David Letterman's "Late Show," announced that he defeated death, before being joined by his famous friends for his final number.

"I was going to say goodbye, but now that I'll live forever, who knows," he said, before breaking out into song.

Jon Stewart first took the stage for "We'll Meet Again" with Randy Newman at the piano. Tom Brokaw, James Franco, Andy Cohen, Barry Manilow, Jeff Daniels, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Bob Costas, Arianna Huffington, George Lucas, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and even Big Bird and Cookie Monster sang along, among others, bidding adieu to Colbert. (A full list is posted below the video.)

Colbert will take a seat on the "Late Show," sometime in 2015 after Letterman's final May 20 episode.

Here's the full list of participants:

Willie Nelson Doris Kearns Goodwin Bryan Cranston Francis Collins Yo-Yo Ma Lil Buck Mandy Patinkin Neil DeGrasse Tyson Tom Brokaw Randy Newman Jon Stewart Henry Kissinger Cyndi Lauper Trevor Potter Big Bird Cookie Monster Jeff Daniels David Hallberg Andrew Sullivan Ken Burns Ric Ocasek Katie Couric Charlie Rose Samantha Power Mark Cuban Michael Stipe James Franco Toby Keith Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Gloria Steinem Dean Kamen Barry Manilow Bill De Blasio George Saunders General Ray Odierno Andrew Young Jeff Tweedy Andy Cohen Christiane Amanpour David Gregory Patrick Stewart Peter Frampton Stone Phillips Naquasia Legrand Arianna Huffington Cory Booker Alexi Lalas George Lucas Alan Alda Elijah Wood Mike Huckabee Tim Meadows Garrett Reisman Shepard Fairey Steven Pinker Paul Rieckhoff David Leonhardt Claire McCaskill Ed Viesturs Jake Tapper Jeffrey Toobin Emily Bazelon Brian Greene Lesley Stahl Matt Taibbi Father Jim Martin Norm Ornstein Elliot Spitzer Terry Gross Jonathan Alter Paulina Porizkova Nate Silver Maureen Dowd Richard Clarke David Remnick Dan Savage Jimmy Wales Grover Norquist Eleanor Holmes Norton Joe Quesada Andrew Young Katrina vanden Heuvel Bradley Whitford Ann Patchett Tom Friedman Cass Sunstein Cliff Sloan Bing West Evie Colbert Madeleine Colbert Peter Colbert John Colbert

Variety