Skip to main content

Watch: James Corden sings Joy to the World with Stevie Wonder, Bieber, and more

Christmas Carpool Karaoke - Joy to the World
Late Late Show host James Corden wants us to celebrate the holidays, and he’s brought some of pop music’s finest to join him. Cruising the streets of Los Angeles in his SUV, Corden invited Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, Justin Bieber, Iggy Azalea, Jason Derulo, Rod Stewart, and One Direction to help him sing Joy to the World.

Corden begins the video, simply entitled “Christmas Carpool Karaoke,” by telling Late Late Show bandleader Reggie Watts that Christmas music is his favorite thing about the upcoming holiday. “We probably don’t have a way of experiencing that,” replies Watts. “But it’s cool to think about.” Corden and Watts then turn on the radio and the duo helm a cut-and-pasted together version of the Christmas hit featuring many special guests.

Bieber sets off the star-studded rendition of Joy to the World. His appearance caps off a comeback year for the 22 year-old pop star, as he works towards turning his life around after some recent run-ins with the law. This year also saw the release of the Bieb’s chart-topping record Purpose.

Other highlights include Iggy Azalea’s freestyle Christmas-themed rap and joyful harmonies from soul legend Stevie Wonder and American Idol winner-turned-country artist Carrie Underwood. Meanwhile, members of One Direction catch a peek at a couple “snogging on the curb” as the British host puts it.

The three-minute video certainly has its strange moments, including Corden and Iggy Azalea donning wedding gowns for their scene, Rod Stewart showing up intermittently with jazz hands, and Reggie Watts head-banging to the Christmas tune.

The video is a compilation of cuts that Corden’s recorded throughout the year for his Carpool Karaoke segments, according to Billboard. Catch new episodes of The Late Late Show with James Corden weeknights.

Editors' Recommendations

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
What is hi-res audio, and how can you experience it right now?
Dlyan Wireless Headphones

High-resolution audio, hi-res audio, or even HD audio -- whatever you decide to call it (for the record, the industry prefers "hi-res audio"), it's a catch-all term that describes digital audio that goes above and beyond the level of sound quality you can expect from a garden-variety MP3 file and even CDs. It was once strictly the domain of audiophiles, but now that major streaming music services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz have embraced it, almost everyone can take advantage of what hi-res has to offer.

But what exactly is hi-res audio? What equipment do you need to listen to it? Where can you download or stream it? And does it actually sound better? We've got the answers.
What does the term 'hi-res audio' mean?

Read more
How to download music from Spotify for offline listening
How to download music and podcasts from Spotify: The downloads folder.

If you're a Spotify Premium user paying that premium Spotify fee, chances are you've taken at least some time curating playlists, liking songs, and using the platform's easy-to-use (and recently revamped) user interface to discover new and old music.

But sometimes all that music or your favorite podcasts aren't available if you find yourself without an internet connection to stream them from — like on a long plane ride or weekend camping trip in the sticks. That's where Spotify's offline listening feature comes in handy, allowing you to download playlists, albums, and podcasts through its desktop and mobile apps so you can still rock out while you're off the grid.

Read more
How to switch from Spotify to Apple Music
Spotify and Apple Music transfer on a smartphone.

Spotify is the world's most popular music streaming service for a reason. It has a massive catalog of music and podcasts, is full of cool music discovery and sharing features, and is really easy to use.
However, with its recent price increase and the fact that it still hasn't joined most of its peers in offering a hi-res audio quality option, you may be considering jumping ship for its closest competitor, Apple Music, which counts lossless hi-res tracks, mind-bending spatial audio, Dolby Atmos Music tracks, and a catalog that rivals Spotify's among the many attractive reasons to switch.

But there's one problem: you’ve spent a lot of time creating playlists and marking songs and albums as your favorites in Spotify. Is it worth the switch? Will all that hard work be lost in translation?

Read more