--- title: Stephen Colbert Birthday Turns 50 New Happy Birthday Song description: Stephen Colbert turns 50 today so listen to the birthday song he wrote canonical: https://time.com/93265/stephen-colbert-turns-50-today-so-listen-to-the-birthday-song-he-wrote/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-13T12:30:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:32.361Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Turns 50 Today, So Listen to The Birthday Song He Wrote og:description: But don't try to sing "Happy Birthday to You" to him og:url: https://time.com/93265/stephen-colbert-turns-50-today-so-listen-to-the-birthday-song-he-wrote/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Turns 50 Today, So Listen to The Birthday Song He Wrote twitter:description: But don't try to sing "Happy Birthday to You" to him twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stephen Colbert Turns 50 Today, So Listen to The Birthday Song He Wrote > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 13, 2014 12:30 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 13, 2014 12:30 PM UTC Stephen Colbert turns 50 today, so it’s a perfect time to re-watch his hilarious _Colbert Report_ segment in which he composes and sings a new birthday jingle. He cannot sing the copyrighted “Happy Birthday to You” because he is afraid that Warner Music will sue him. The late-night host’s royalty-free version of the classic tune sounds more like the national anthem, though we’re not sure everyone celebrating a birthday will appreciate someone singing, “You’re getting so old, and you’re shaped like a pear” to his or her face. **MORE:** [Stephen Colbert to Succeed David Letterman](http://time.com/57935/stephen-colbert-david-letterman-late-show-host/) **WATCH:** [Stephen Colbert Takes a Selfie with David Letterman During a Visit to The Late Show](http://time.com/73171/stephen-colbert-david-letterman-late-show-selfie/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/93265/stephen-colbert-turns-50-today-so-listen-to-the-birthday-song-he-wrote/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/93265/stephen-colbert-turns-50-today-so-listen-to-the-birthday-song-he-wrote/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Turns 50 Today, So Listen to The Birthday Song He Wrote","datePublished":"2014-05-13T12:30:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:32.361Z","description":"But don't try to sing \"Happy Birthday to You\" to him","url":"https://time.com/93265/stephen-colbert-turns-50-today-so-listen-to-the-birthday-song-he-wrote/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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