THE LATE LATE Show with James Corden returned to US screens after its Christmas break last night.
On the morning of Stephen’s Day, following the death of George Michael, a lot of people sought out the original, joyous Carpool Karaoke sketch between the pair.
And Corden gave a moving tribute right at the start of the show for his late friend
“I feel like I’ve loved George Michael as long as I’ve kind of loved music in a way. And I know so many of his fans feel the same.”
It was an emotional monologue:
I can remember so many specific times in my life where I might have felt on my own and George’s music would feel like you could listen to a song and he’d reach his hand out and tell you that you weren’t on your own and that these feelings were… not particular to you.
Speaking specifically about *that* Comic Relief sketch, he recounted an anecdote of when they spoke for the first time
Calling from Australia, James awoke at 3am to pick up the call from the pop legend:
it was the weirdest feeling going to bed thinking when I wake up it’s going to be because George Michael is on the phone. We chatted for an hour… we spoke about music – and I felt very privileged to be able to tell him how much his music meant to me.
He revealed a professional debt of gratitude to him for the sketch too:
“It was the first time that I ever sang with anyone in a car… and it’s become a big part of my life now”
When we started the show here, we were trying to get people to do Carpool Karaoke and not many artists wanted to do it and we would send them this clip of me and George and we sent it to Mariah Carey – and she was the first person to say yes. And her words were ‘If it’s good enough for George, it’s good enough for me. I’ll do it’
He then played the original sketch for the US audience to wrap up a glowing, personal tribute to the legend that was George Michael.
