Weeks away from her upcoming second major-label album, Special, Lizzo stopped by The Late Late Show With James Corden for the show’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment.
Lizzo and Corden kicked off the karaoke session with a performance of her hit single, “Good As Hell,” which was released in 2016 but reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019. Later, the two sang “Juice” from Lizzo’s 2019 major-label debut album, Cuz I Love You. Corden then surprised Lizzo, a well-trained flautist, by pulling out a flute from the back seat. Lizzo, who has been playing flute since she was 12, then shows off her flute skills. Lizzo that she calls her own flute “Sasha Floot,” named after her fellow Houstonian Beyoncé’s alter-ego, Sasha Fierce.
“When I was shy, or when I didn’t think I was cool, and when I was getting picked on, I would listen to Beyoncé in my bedroom, and it would transport me,” Lizzo said. “I would feel something. I would feel like my life is going to be better. There’s hope for me. When I dropped out of college and I was really depressed, I listened to [Beyoncé’s sophomore album] B’day on repeat. I would just sing B’day all the time, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna be a singer, I’m gonna be a singer.’ The way she makes people is how I want to make people feel with music. She’s been my north star.”
The two then sing Beyoncé’s hit single, “Crazy In Love.”
Other high points in the episode include Lizzo previewing the album’s title track, before she revealed that she grew up in The Church Of God In Christ and wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music growing up.
“Would you have been allowed to listen to Lizzo’s music?” asked Corden
“Early on Lizzo, yes,” Lizzo replied. “But when Lizzo started cussing, no. I’ve pissed a few family members off.”
Toward the end of the episode, the two perform Lizzo’s most recent hit single, “About Damn Time.” They are later joined in the park by Jaeden Gomez, who created the song’s TikTok dance, as well as a large group of people, creating a flash mob.
Check out the full segment above.
Special is out 7/15 via Atlantic. Pre-save it here.
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.