--- description: "Skip to My Lou" has never been cooler title: Watch James Corden and Jennifer Hudson Sing Public Domain Songs image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # If You're Happy and You Know It Watch James Corden and Jennifer Hudson Sing Public Domain Songs  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 6, 2016 12:07 PM CUT  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 6, 2016 12:07 PM CUT James Corden has found success with his [Carpool Karaoke segments](http://time.com/4261606/james-corden-carpool-karaoke-special/ "undefined"), but they don’t come cheap. “Ladies and gentlemen, if there’s one thing I love, I love singing well-known songs,” _The Late Late Show_ host told his audience on Monday’s episode. “And if there’s one thing CBS doesn’t love, it’s me spending money on the rights to those songs.” So he and [Carpool alumna Jennifer Hudson](http://time.com/3822329/jennifer-hudson-sing-drive-thru-order-james-corden-carpool-karaoke/ "undefined") found a clever solution: singing songs from the public domain, which allows for some musical entertainment without requiring the signing of any big checks. “Skip to My Lou” has never been cooler. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4283367/james-corden-jennifer-hudson-public-domain-songs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4283367/james-corden-jennifer-hudson-public-domain-songs/"},"headline":"If You're Happy and You Know It Watch James Corden and Jennifer Hudson Sing Public Domain Songs","datePublished":"2016-04-06T12:07:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:29:44.922Z","description":"\"Skip to My Lou\" has never been cooler","url":"https://time.com/4283367/james-corden-jennifer-hudson-public-domain-songs/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4283367/james-corden-jennifer-hudson-public-domain-songs/","name":"If You're Happy and You Know It Watch James Corden and Jennifer Hudson Sing Public Domain Songs"}}]}] ```