And almost three years since her death, he has now dubbed his late pal as "incredibly inspirational", and "more fragile" than most people knew.

Speaking about Carrie, James said: "The world is a sadder place without her. I lived with her in Los Angeles recording most of my albums, and whenever I've been in America, in LA, that has been my home.

"She's godmother to my child, she helped me name 'Back to Bedlam' because her house was a mad house. I recorded 'Goodbye My Lover' in her bathroom.

"And she was an incredibly inspirational, creative human being, who saw the funny side of everything. She was more fragile than I think people knew, but I was very lucky to know her."

The 'Carry You Home' hitmaker returned to LA to record his latest album 'Once Upon a Mind' - which was released in October - and although he could no longer stay at Carrie's home, he recalled a touching experience he had whilst paying the property a visit.

During an appearance on People Now, he added: "I had an amazing moment going back to Los Angeles last time to do this album, and I was staying in a hotel because obviously I'm homeless now, I can't stay with her. And I thought 'You know what, I'll drive back. I'll drive to the house.' And then I had an internal conversation: 'That would be weird', 'No come on, I'm driving to the house'.

"So I drove up to her gate, and I put my hand on her gate and I immediately started crying. I was say 'Oh god Carrie, I miss you so much.' And as I did that, three StarMap vans, who drive tourists to various celebrity's houses pulled up beside.

"And I heard on the intercom, 'And on your left, you'll see the late great Carrie Fisher's house, and you'll see some fans are still deeply moved by her passing'. I was that fan. I think she would have enjoyed the irony."