Since George Michael died in his sleep last Christmas, the world has been flush with tributes from fellow celebrities.
But while it’s tempting to lump them together, especially the ones from celebrities who likely didn’t even know him that well, these speeches tend to bring out extraordinarily personal yarns (I still tear up thinking about Jay Leno’s tribute to Steve Irwin and I don’t even like Leno).
The latest one for Michael comes from ‘Late Late Show’ host James Corden, who starts off with some expectedly heartbreaking thoughts:
“I feel like I’ve loved George Michael as long as I’ve kind of loved music.”“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 would listen to a song and he would reach his hand out and tell you that you weren’t on your own and that these feelings were not particular to you.”
Corden then discusses how much Michael meant to him personally after the two worked together on a Red Nose Day sketch for UK comedy charity Comic Relief in 2011, one that acted as a prototype for the comedian’s now signature series:
The first ‘Carpool Karoake’ sketch, which required Corden taking a 3am phone call from Michael while the singer was in Australia, proved instrumental in getting other celebrities on board. As Mariah Carey said, as quoted by Corden, “if it’s good enough for George, it’s good enough for me.”
And while it won’t be close to the most important thing Michael ever did, it’s still something to see Corden thank the man for helping start a series that, one way or another, has meant a lot to the guy.
Give the tribute video, which includes a chunk of the original sketch, a squiz below:
Source: CBS.
Photo: CBS / Getty.
