James Blunt considers himself 'very lucky' to have known 'incredibly inspirational' Carrie Fisher

Singer James Blunt has said he feels "lucky" to have known Carrie Fisher before the star's sad 2017 death.

The You're Beautiful hitmaker was well acquainted with Fisher, having lived with the Star Wars actress while recording many of his albums.

Speaking with People Now, Blunt, 45, shared: "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.

Read more: Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd ‘didn’t really like’ Princess Leia as a child

"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 pair struck up an unlikely bond through Blunt's then-girlfriend Dixie Chassay whose family were friends with Fisher.

On hearing that Blunt was heading to LA to record his album, Fisher offered him the use of her Beverly Hills home.

Back in 2006, the screen icon had candidly discussed their friendship and how she became a "therapist" for the singer.

She told the Independent on Sunday: “He'd never been to therapy and I've had enough for both of us, so we started talking quite deeply about his time in the army and the kind of impact that had had. And so on. So I was kind of his shrink/landlady.

“We became very, very good friends by the end. He is a good person and he was very good to me when I had a friend pass away. He's a really good soul. This was someone for whom I became a therapist, bear in mind. There was a lot of transference. I still talk to him all the time.”

Fisher died on 27 December 2017 at the age of 60, with her mother, Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, dying just a day later at the age of 84.