James Corden wraps up 'Late Late Show' with final Adele Carpool Karaoke: see his highlights

A tearful goodbye
James Corden heading back to London
'I don't remember what life was like before'
Remembering the highlights
He began hosting in 2015
Bringing light in dark moments
Memorable: An Afternoon with Prince Harry
An unusual interview
The David Beckham underwear shoot
Aquaman and James
The controversial opener for the 2019 Tonys
'We do it live!'
The meaning of the tattoo
It means... 'crane'?
Corden goes head-to-head with Thor
Tattoo Roulette with One Direction
Not a comedy sketch
'I don't know why I said it'
Adele's Carpool Karaoke
22 Musicals In 12 Minutes
Harry Styles' Crosswalk Concert
Crosswalk the Musical Grease
Avengers: Infinity War' cast gets on the tour bus
Drop The Mic With Anne Hathaway
Michelle Obama's Carpool Karaoke
Making it into the children’s music industry with Paul Rudd
Mariah Carey's Christmas Carpool
Christina Aguilera and Melissa McCarthy
Elton John and James Corden dress up and sing
Jennifer Hudson
Adele carpool Karaoke: the final
A tearful goodbye

It was an emotional final carpool karaoke when Adele surprised James Corden and tearfully sang with him for the last time. The two reminisced about friendship, shared personal stories and looked back over Corden's time on the 'Late Late Show' in general.

James Corden heading back to London

The presenter spoke on The Drew Barrymore Show in January about leaving the show, saying: "I will be a mess on that last show. I will cry my eyes out but I will know at my core that the best thing for me and the best thing for us as a family is to put down some roots in London, and it feels absolutely right in every single way."

'I don't remember what life was like before'

"It's been a crazy eight years," said Corden during the final Carpool Karaoke with the world-famous singer. "In one sense it feels like it's gone like that [clicks fingers] and in another, I feel like I don't remember what life was like before being here." Perhaps this photo will jog memories?

Remembering the highlights

Corden is leaving his $36 million per year salary to head back to the UK and spend more time with his family. The Daily Mail reports that this may be the end of 'The Late Late Show' altogether, so we look back at the best moments of the show during Corden's time at the helm: some controversial, some funny, and some downright hilarious.

He began hosting in 2015

'The Late Late Show', shown on CBS in the evenings during the week, is a talk show with celebrity guests, comedy sketches, and musical performances. James took over hosting the show in 2015 and since then has had an amazing array of celebrities on his show.

Photo: CBS

Bringing light in dark moments

In tough times like the pandemic, Corden always tried to stay positive: "This is the strangest, strangest time, and all we’ve ever wanted to do on our show is bring you some light in the dark, in the corner of your room every night and we’re going to do our best at some point to continue trying to do that."

Photo: CBS

Memorable: An Afternoon with Prince Harry

In February 2022, he spoke to the Duke of Sussex about the famous split from the Royal Family and his reasons for making the decision. Prince Harry also talked about his new life in the States and his small family.

Photo: CBS

An unusual interview

But it wasn’t any old interview - he was picked up by Corden driving a double decker bus, given British tea and, like a true sightseer, was asked by Corden to pay the bus fare. Prince Harry showed his funny side and humour well in this episode and said, “You know us royals, we don't carry cash.”

Photo: CBS

The David Beckham underwear shoot

David and James (AKA D&J) bared all when they created a spoof advert for their new line of underwear (tighty whities to be exact) The black and white advert was meant to bring attention to Corden taking over the show in 2015 and attention was brought. The underwear is described to maintain men’s sense of self during the day, leaving them feeling “secure,” “free,” “cradled,” and “alive,”. The advert finished with Corden saying the briefs are "for a man with a great body...and David Beckham"

Aquaman and James

James Corden, for one of his incredible celebrity ‘interviews’, hung out with Jason Momoa for a day. For those who know Jason Momoa, he is a pro at throwing axes, knives and has some serious archery skills. Corden isn’t really that kind of guy. It makes for great TV watching him try, though. He gives archery his best shot, rides motorcycles and cracks the odd whip or two. To top it off, Momoa tries shooting an apple off Corden’s head… blindfolded.

Photo: CBS

The controversial opener for the 2019 Tonys

His opening musical number at the Tonys in 2019 is one of Corden’s moments to remember. His song choice (which was a full blown musical extravaganza), was aimed at getting the public to visit the theatre more often.

 

'We do it live!'

In the Tony bit, he takes aim at TV and well-known streaming platforms, singing: “You watch Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, till you can’t remember which program is on… We do it live! It can’t be hash-tagged, and it isn’t tweetable!” It was funny, witty and totally Corden.

The meaning of the tattoo

James Corden has one tattoo which is inked upon his right calf. In an interview with Dakota Johnson, the questions turned on Corden and he was asked if he was sure he knew what the Chinese symbol on his calf meant. His answer?
“Well, this is the thing. So, I thought it meant ― originally I thought it meant ‘tattoo,’ which I thought was quite funny… Turns out, it doesn’t mean that.”

Photo: CBS

It means... 'crane'?

He continued, “Someone else told me they thought it might mean ‘crane.’”
“Crane, like, a machine or a bird?” Johnson asked.
“The machine, I think.”

Corden goes head-to-head with Thor

The Northall: a high-end London eatery. Picture the scene. Chris Hemsworth the waiter: force-feeding guests tomatoes, pouring copious amounts of wine into glasses and forgetting pretty much every order he is given. Versus James Corden the waiter: announcing allergies over tannoy, serenading with a violin and giving piggybacks to customers. Carnage… but thoroughly entertaining.

Photo: CBS

Tattoo Roulette with One Direction

A slightly twisted, can’t-even-blink episode of the show where he assembled the One Direction band members and decided to play a ‘Deal or no Deal’ style game with a permanent tattoo as the prize at the end. The competition whittled down to Harry and Niall, who is actually the only member of 1D without a tattoo and therefore the most nervous. Recorded for fans to watch for all time is the moment Harry Styles got a Late Late tattoo immediately after he opened the ‘tattoo’ box.

Photo: CBS

Not a comedy sketch

In a retelling of one of his own personal moments, James Corden revealed his less-than-funny joke about what name they should give their youngest (and third) child. He said, “The doctor asked about a name and I don’t know why I said it [but] I looked at the doctor and I said, 'We’re going to call her Beyoncé.'"

'I don't know why I said it'

"My wife (Julia) did not think that was funny. Then a nurse went to the other side of the room and started filling out a form with the name Beyoncé and I had to go over to her and go, ‘Uh, excuse me, there is only one Beyoncé.’"

Adele's Carpool Karaoke

Easily the greatest Carpool Karaoke, Corden drove round London with the incredible Grammy-Award-winning singer, Adele. They talked about Adele’s drunken memories and sang a few songs, including Nicki Minaj’s ‘Monster’ which is simply brilliant. Corden sings along and receives a priceless facial expression from Adele as he belts out the high notes to her hit, ‘Hello’.

Photo: CBS

22 Musicals In 12 Minutes

Frantic, lively and simply brilliant, Corden was joined by Emily Blunt and co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns) to give a rendition of no less than 22 movie musicals. The idea was to cram in as many as possible into a 12 minute window and the team showed us delights from Annie to Mamma Mia, and Cabaret to Hairspray, whilst changing costumes, grabbing props and breathing when they could!

Photo: CBS

Harry Styles' Crosswalk Concert

Crosswalk in general is one of James Cordens finest ideas executed with brilliance and exceptional comedic timing. Harry Styles, who Corden is often seeing winding up, appeared in his own Crosswalk concert at the eve of the debut of his second album, Fine Line. This concert is hilariously frantic and delivers on all levels - even at the highest level...

Photo: CBS

Crosswalk the Musical Grease

Although Corden has delivered some great Crosswalk the musical moments, including Beauty and the Beast (where he, of course, played Belle), Les Miserables and The Lion King, definitely one of the highlights of this comedy skit was the black-leather clad Corden playing Dani Zuko in Grease as he jumps on the bonnet of a car whose driver was unknowingly driving into musical madness. Completely a Capella and without any props, an original James Corden Crosswalk Musical that will provide a lot of laughs.

Photo: CBS

Avengers: Infinity War' cast gets on the tour bus

James Corden’s Star Star Tours has taken off. But what happens when the cast of Marvels’ Avengers: Infinity War decide to get on board? In James’ first star tour (that takes the stars on a star tour), he educates the team on how to order coffee, queue politely and generally behave in a comic book shop. A must-see for pure enjoyment.

Photo: CBS

Drop The Mic With Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway, an elegant lady in every sense with some very respectable Hollywood roles to her name, including Les Miserables, The Dark Knight Rises and recently, The Witches, shows her other side in this genious rap battle. Not to be reckoned with, Anne has some serious tricks up her sleeve and doesn’t let Corden get away lightly.

Photo: CBS

Michelle Obama's Carpool Karaoke

Carpool Karaoke has become almost as famous as previous POTUS, Obama and his wife. After admitting she wasn’t able to listen to music much when she was on the move, Michelle belted out Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, as James Corden took her for a drive around the White House grounds. Brilliant comedy, brilliant personal insight into Michelle Obama’s joyful personality and brilliant TV.

Photo: CBS

Making it into the children’s music industry with Paul Rudd

Completely cringeworthy to watch, but laugh-out-loud funny, this mockumentary-style interview is absolutely one of James Corden’s funniest moments. The sketch shows Corden and Paul Rudd tell viewers about the time they created children’s music songs and videos as a pair called The Naptime Boyz and let’s just say, it didn’t take off.

Photo: CBS

Mariah Carey's Christmas Carpool

James Corden tries to bring his Christmas tree home with Mariah Carey sitting in the front seat. They start singing a fabulous rendition of the Christmas classic, All I Want for Christmas is You and are subsequently joined by Lady Gaga, Adele, Selena Gomez, Chris Martin and other celebrities singing along. Capturing some real Christmas cheer, this star-studded special episode is simply marvellous.

Photo: CBS

Christina Aguilera and Melissa McCarthy

Two-for-the-price-of-one in this Carpool Karaoke memorable moment. Melissa McCarthy comes along for the ride which shows Christina Aguilera instructing Corden on vocal technique and basically how to become a diva. Coming from the woman with one of the best vocals in the business, the session is simply jaw-dropping as she shows why people all over the world should continue to respect her talent.

Photo: CBS

Elton John and James Corden dress up and sing

Corden makes legendary Elton John feel at home in his car as they drive around, chat, sing and wear fabulous costumes. They belt out songs from Your Song” and “Tiny Dancer” to “Crocodile Rock” and “Circle of Life” from The Lion King. Insightful and delightful.

Photo: CBS

Jennifer Hudson

The Oscar-winning Dreamgirls actress and judge of The Voice came along to one of James Corden’s first Carpool Karaokes. I guess, with Jennifer Hudson’s voice, he was relaxed knowing she would stun audiences and she did come across a true superstar. So she not only made James Corden put a hand over his mouth in awe as she finished the final notes of Dreamgirls’ ‘And I am Telling You’, but she also excitedly yelled at tourists on a tour bus and sang Corden’s burger order at a fast food drive through.

Photo: CBS

Adele carpool Karaoke: the final

Int he final carpool karaoke, we got one of the sweetest exchanges between the two. Adele said to Corden, "I've never lived in LA without you guys so I'm a bit nervous about it, to be honest with you, and very, very sad.” Later on she added, "You're one of my best friends in the whole world. I'm gonna miss you so much.”

Photo: CBS

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