Late night lost a mainstay Thursday night, as James Corden said goodbye to "The Late Late Show" after eight years as host.
CBS closed the curtain on Corden's run with a primetime special followed by a regularly scheduled episode, both packed with celebrity guests and segments the British comedian made popular in his nearly 1,200 episode-run.
Music was a recurring theme for the evening, starting with Corden and show regular Tom Cruise singing a live performance of "The Lion King" original "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" at the Pantages.
Later in the show, Adele joined Corden for the final segment of "Carpool Karaoke," where the pair sang hit songs and shed some tears as Corden sat in the passenger seat for the first time.
Then the final episode itself kicked off with Corden stuck in a stairwell at CBS, where he spoke with the show's final guests, Harry Styles and Will Ferrell, through a window in a one of the stairwell's doors.
During the host's final news segment, Corden was surprised with a message from President Joe Biden, thanking the comedian for "all the joy you brought to homes across America, and special thanks for never asking me to sing in the car."
And just after sharing he "may finally get a good night's sleep," Corden's fellow late-night hosts — Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman — appeared in a sketch, waking Corden up to discuss his future and who would take over "Carpool Karaoke."
The show concluded with Corden imploring the audience to "remember what America signifies to the rest of the world" and a farewell piano performance, where he sang his tagline, "Thanks for watching. That's our show," for the last time.
The comedian has said his main reason for leaving the show was to spend more time in London with his wife, Julia Carey, and his three children.
Corden was launched into stardom with the 2007 British series"Gavin & Stacey" that he co-starred in and co-created. After appearing in a variety of films and shows, he later earned a Tony Award for his role in the 2012 play "One Man, Two Guvnors."
In 2015, Corden replaced Craig Ferguson as host of "The Late Late Show," becoming its fourth host while still being relatively unknown to mainstream U.S. audiences.
During his tenure, the series received one Emmy Award among 12 nominations. Segments like "Carpool Karaoke" and "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts" became household names, with many segments going viral online.
CBS is set to replace "The Late Late Show" with a reboot of the comedic game show "@midnight." Late night host Stephen Colbert will executive produce the series, which originally ended in 2017 after airing 600 episodes.
