On 27th December 2016 the world lost Carrie Fisher, taken far too young at just 60 years of age. It was – and still is – a stinging loss, but few knew Carrie as well as singer James Blunt, who remembers his friendship with our much-missed Princess. Speaking with The Guardian he remembers their first meeting back in 2003, when his own career was just starting.
“I was going out with a girl whose parents were family friends of Carrie’s and I sat beside her at lunch. I had just got a record deal and was moving to LA.”
“Carrie’s first question was: ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I’ve left the army to go to make an album in LA.’ Question number two was: ‘Where are you going to live?’ I said I didn’t know. Her reply — the third thing she ever said to me — was: ‘Well, you’re going to live with me.’ So I did just that.”
“I came home one night and sat on the end of her bed and we talked until morning. After that, whenever I got back from the studio I’d go into her room to talk, no matter if it was 11pm or 3am. She became my best, best friend.”
“I’ve got a song on my new album called ‘Dark Thought,’ describing the moment when I went back to her house after she had died. I put my hand on her gate and started crying.”
“Moments after, one of the open-top Star Map vans that drive tourists around LA turned up. Over the PA, the guide said: ‘On your left, you’ll find the late, great Carrie Fisher’s house … As you can see, some fans are still deeply moved by her passing. That was me. I wanted to tell them to f*** off, but eventually found it funny.”
