Madonna and Jon Batiste, bandleader and TV personality familiar to the viewers of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", took to the streets of Harlem, New York City, singing her 1989 pop-rock-gospel song "Like A Prayer" in the early hours of Saturday.
Her impromptu sing-a-long happened after a performance at Ginny's Supper Club in the basement of celebrated Ethiopian-Swedish-American chef Marcus Samuelson's Red Rooster restaurant.
As she walked down 126th Street, Madonna took the night owls of Harlem by surprise.
Billboard called it as a "near-religious experience".
Variety described it as a "New Orleans-style street party".
Holy shit #madonna is moving the show outside & is leading everyone thru the NYC streets singing Like A Prayer!!! #MadameX pic.twitter.com/QTbeS0oIno
— Christopher Cooley (@ChrisKnowsStuff) October 9, 2021
"Travelling a few blocks down the street, the congregation ended outside a nearby church, where Madonna, framed by the ecclesiastical doors behind her, offered an invocation. 'The Lord is with all of us,' she said. 'Sometimes you just have to say a prayer'," reports Variety.
Madonna on the streets of Harlem singing Like A Prayer pic.twitter.com/NrpMBW1Sq8
— MLVCpodcast (@mlvcpodcast) October 9, 2021
Before Madonna and Batiste appeared on the street armed with megaphones, she performed a selection of her classic hits - "Dark Ballet", "La Isla Bonita" and the Portuguese Saudade - and songs from her Billboard 200-topping "Madame X" album. Variety said the evening at Ginny's Supper Club was "impossibly intimate".
Oozing sensuality in a black cocktail dress and lace gloves topped up with a long blonde wig, Madonna was celebrating the release of her "Madame X" concert film.
"Madame X is born," Billboard quoted Madonna as saying, tipping to the documentary's release. "But the fact is, she's always been here, pushing you, inspiring you."