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Love him or hate him, James Corden was able to gather lots of success as a late night host. His most memorable segment looking back has to be Carpool Karaoke. Some of his top moments on the segment have millions of views and feature the top artists from around the world.
However, as we’re going to reveal in the following, not every artist jumped at the opportunity, and in fact, some walked away due to creative differences.
In the following, we’re going to take a closer look at Corden’s journey on Carpool Karaoke, and the speed bumps he faced along the way. One artist in particular wouldn’t agree to do the show, despite Corden’s excitement and admiration for the musician. We’ll reveal what he had planned, and why the artist refused.
James Corden Didn’t Have Trouble Landing Top Artists, But He Did Have Troubling Situations On Carpool Karaoke
Take a quick glance at James Corden’s YouTube page, and it becomes evident very fast, fans have a lot of interest in watching the host’s Carpool Karaoke segment. Among the most viewed segments of all-time include Adele, One Direction, Justin Bieber, Sia, Bruno Mars, Selena Gomez, BTS and so many others.
Despite such an impressive list, not every guest felt confident once they arrived to the segment. One artist in particular actually ended up leaving due to creative differences. Corden spoke about his experience alongside Bryan Adams.
“I want to preface this by saying I kinda understand it and I get it and I hold no grudge. I don’t. For the anniversary of Back to the Future, we were gonna do a sort of ‘Best of the ’80s’ Carpool Karaoke — in a DeLorean. And we booked Bryan Adams and we were very excited. I love Bryan Adams, he’s got hits for days, he’s terrific. I don’t know that Bryan’s management had told Bryan that it was a sort of collaboration with lots of other singers from that time period.”
“I’ve never seen – I’ve never heard from him. He just bolted. He was gone,” Corden continued.
Adams clearly wasn’t impressed with what the host had in mind and as it turns out, there was another artist that wasn’t interested in the segment either.
James Corden Had An Entire Skit Planned For Paul Simon, But The Music Legend Refused The Offer
Speaking alongside Howard Stern, James Corden revealed the one guest he couldn’t land for Carpool Karaoke. Surprisingly, Howard Stern shared the same struggle, and wasn’t able to get the artist on either.
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Corden revealed that person was none other than Paul Simon. It stung that much more given what a fan Corden was of his music.
“I adore him. They are some of my most joyous memories and the particular album of those road trips was ‘Graceland,’” he said. “And my mom would just be asleep and the four of us would just sing every single word.”
Corden would even state that a certain song was perfect for his role. “You know that song ‘Gumboots’ where he’s got a lyric where he says, ‘You don’t feel you could love me, but I feel you could,’ which I think sums up how any sort of stereotypically unattractive boy at the age of 14 or 15 feels about every girl at their school at the time.”
Corden clearly had major interest, and was even planning a memorable skit with Simon.
“I had this idea where I would just give anything to drive around in a car with Paul Simon and I had this idea that I would maybe try and surprise my mom and dad and my sisters and that we’d all get in this car and sing this song, but Paul … he’s hard to get,” he said.
Sadly for Corden, the host could not get Simon to do the gig. James admitted he was hard to get, which should be the case according to Corden. Fans had mixed reactions to the rejection, with some understanding why Simon turned it down.
Fans Had Mixed Reactions Over Paul Simon Turning Down James Corden
Reaction to Simon not taking part were mixed by the fans. One person on YouTube wrote that Paul might regret his decision to avoid the show. Such an interview with Stern might get back to Simon, the fan notes.
“Can’t help but think, maybe, just maybe, this story will get back to Paul and he’ll at least wish he had done this interview. Not wishing he’ll lament his decision, but just hoping he’ll appreciate the sentimentality of this story and think, “I should have done that one.”
Another fan credits Simon for turning down the role, while bashing Corden and his past. “Paul Simon clearly has a good judge of character!”
It truly would’ve been quite the moment to see Paul Simon on the show but clearly, he was never an easy get throughout his career.
