Adele unexpectedly played about 40 seconds of new single “Easy On Me” for fans Saturday afternoon (Oct. 9).

The singer had an hour to kill before an interview, so she hopped on to Instagram Live to chat. Toward the end of her time logged on with fans, she gifted those tuning in with a taste of the new ballad.

“There ain’t no gold in this river/ That I’ve been washing my hands in forever/ And there is hope in these waters/ But I can’t bring myself to swim when I am drowning in this silence/ Baby, let me in,” Adele can be heard singing in the snippet.

Some familiar names popped up in the chat as thousands of followers joined in to listen. Alicia Keys chimed in with a fitting “snippet vibes” comment, while Ben Platt expressed the general excitement of the room with “ITS HAPPENING.”

Adele — who was a bit distracted by her two new dogs and trying to figure out how to add another Instagram user to her live session — stared in wonder at the stream of questions coming in ahead of playing “Easy On Me,” which is set for an Oct. 15 release. The track is the first new music to be heard from the star in nearly six years and is expected to be on her next album, which fans believe could be titled 30 based to mysterious billboards that recently popped up around the world.

Besides giving fans a sneak peek of “Easy On Me,” Adele answered a number of random questions as they appeared in the chat stream.

Many questions, of course, were centered on her upcoming album, but she didn’t want to “give too much away” yet.

“I do have a favorite song from the new album,” Adele teased. “But I’m not gonna tell you what it is ’cause you don’t have the track list yet.”

“I’m excited to get it out into the world at last,” she added.

Adele vaguely revealed that the album is “dropping soon. Don’t you worry,” and although she’d previously said the new album isn’t necessarily a “divorce record,” during Saturday’s Instagram Live she did say it’s based on “divorce, babe. Divorce.”

Also of note: Adele had some kind words for Britney Spears — “Of course I support #FreeBritney. I love Britney. Met her a couple times. I absolutely adore her. Really happy for her,” she said — and decided that her favorite album of 2021, so far, is Drake’s.

Adele’s previous studio album, 2015’s 25, sold 3.38 million copies in its debut week in the U.S., which was the biggest sales week of an album since Nielsen (now MRC Data) began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. That impressive number brought the fun fact that 25 sold about 335 copies per minute in the U.S. during its first week on sale.

Watch a clip of the “Easy on Me” song preview, followed by a recording of her full chat with fans, below.

Night owls roaming the streets of Harlem, New York at 2 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 9) were treated to a near-religious experience when Madonna and Jon Batiste led an impromptu sing-along of “Like a Prayer” down 126th Street.

The New Orleans-style street party started nearby at Ginny’s Supper Club in the basement of inventive eatery Red Rooster, where Madonna, Batiste and his band performed a selection of her classic hits and songs from her Billboard 200-topping Madame X album to celebrate the release of her Madame X concert film on Paramount+. “Madame X is born,” Madonna said, tipping to the documentary’s release. “But the fact, is she’s always been here pushing, you inspiring you.”

While the Madame X movie captures M’s intimate 2019 residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Belvedere Vodka-hosted event in Harlem made the BAM shows look like an arena in comparison. The Red Rooster basement has a 100-person capacity, which meant everyone in attendance got very up close and personal with Madge as she strummed an acoustic guitar, grinded up against a column while singing 1987’s “La Isla Bonita” and crooned “Dark Ballet” (sans Auto-Tune) to an all-smiles Batiste as the Oscar winner tickled the ivories during that beautifully bonkers Madame X standout.

When a trio of gospel singers came out and the Queen got down on her knees, the audience – which included her daughter Lourdes Leon, Drag Race winner Aquaria, Pose star Dyllon Burnside and choreographer and longtime associate Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza – collectively skipped a heartbeat, knowing which song was coming next. But never content with business as usual, Madonna didn’t let the venue contain her – she led the pop-up show’s crowd out onto the streets of Harlem for an unlikely late-night street party.

Megaphones in hand, M and Batiste had the crowd singing “Like a Prayer” (surprisingly in tune for 2 a.m.) down the middle of 126th Street, with an amiable tuba keeping time and a freestyling saxophone elevating the joyous, jazzy rendition of the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1. Periodically, everyone in the crowd looked at each other as if to say, is this really happening, grateful that in the era of smartphones there would at least be proof of an event that sounds like the raving fever dream of an obsessive pop Stan.

Due to the lateness of the hour, there wasn’t that much traffic for the street party to disrupt. In fact, when a man and woman driving by the crowd realized what was happening, they full-on ditched their car in the middle of the street to hop out and join in the once-in-a-lifetime experience. As the glorious sing-along came to a close in front of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, however, one less-than-thrilled driver made a point of reminding everyone that we were still in New York City by honking dolefully at the crowd slowing down his late-night commute. But as Madonna said of the city that never sleeps in 2005’s “I Love New York,” “If you can’t stand the heat – then get off of my street.”