James Corden Pays Tribute to George Michael, The First Ever 'Carpool Karaoke' Star

‘Carpool Karaoke’ is one of the most popular late night segments, and has seen some of the biggest names in music appear with Late Late Show host James Corden, including Justin Bieber, Adele, Madonna and Bruno Mars.

But, you probably didn’t know the original ‘Carpool Karaoke’ featured George Michael, who sadly passed away Sunday at the age of 53.

While on an episode of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show earlier this year, James Corden revealed that the idea for ‘Carpool Karaoke’ came from a 2011 sketch for UK charity Comic Relief, and it featured Corden and Michael driving around singing some of Michael’s biggest hits.

Corden explained, “My original idea was to pick George Michael up from prison in a car…And then we realized, ‘Maybe we’ll lose the prison, but what if there’s still some fun for me and George to be in the car and we’ll sing some Wham! songs?’”

On Sunday after news of Michael’s death broke, Corden joined many celebrities in paying tribute to the singer, in a series of Tweets…

I've loved George Michael for as long as I can remember. He was an absolute inspiration. Always ahead of his time.

— James Corden (@JKCorden) December 25, 2016

George Michael wrote Praying for Time 25 years ago but I truly believe it's message means more now than ever. https://t.co/f03zlWYbLa

— James Corden (@JKCorden) December 25, 2016

Rest in peace, George.