It’s a rare treat when an artist accustomed to packing out arenas drops by for a surprise performance at a more, well, intimate venue.
And venues don’t get more intimate than Pete’s Candy Store, a bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that’s been holding an open mic night in its oh-so cosy back room on a Sunday for two decades. Last night was just another Sunday – until Olivia Rodrigo sauntered in and played her new single, Drop Dead. Check out the footage below.
🚨 | OLIVIA RODRIGO JUST PERFORMED “drop dead” AT AN OPEN MIC IN NEW YORK CITY pic.twitter.com/OMuGoQM2wiApril 27, 2026
Her presence was a surprise to her fellow performers last night. Brooklyn-based artist Industry Monk shared a clip of his own performance, adding: “Me, unaware I was opening for Olivia Rodrigo.”
Drop Dead is the lead single from Rodrigo’s third album You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl In Love, which is set to land on June 12. In an interview with British Vogue recently, the singer described the album as “sad love songs”, adding: “I realised all my favourite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them.”
“It was a creative challenge to write from a joyful place. When you’re experiencing that you’re connected to someone, or feeling really good, you’re not in your head thinking about bittersweet poems!”
Meanwhile, over on the west coast, an even bigger star – Madonna - made a surprise appearance at The Abbey club in West Hollywood on Saturday night.
The event was an invite-only affair called Club Confessions, and it was around 1 am when the Queen of Pop arrived in the DJ booth alongside Stuart Price (who, of course, produced her upcoming Confessions II album). Madonna apparently grabbed the mic and introduced herself thus: “Hello children, mutha is here to save you. Are you ready to dance for me? Come on, meet me on the dancefloor. Alright, let’s go gays, come on! Don’t let me down, gays. Gay for the gays!”
(You probably had to be there, in fairness.)
Price then span the lead single from Confessions II, I Feel So Free, as well as two new tracks – presumably from the album – one of which was entitled Freedom, as well as a new mix of Hung Up, the Abba-sampling classic which, incredibly, is now over 20 years old.
All good fun, of course. And Confessions II is set to be released on July 3.
