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Madonna Gives Surprise New Year’s Performance at Gay Rights Landmark Stonewall Inn

She gave a speech and sang two songs.

Madonna gave a surprise performance at the historic Stonewall Inn bar—the gay rights landmark in Manhattan—on New Year’s Eve. According to Variety, the superstar sang two songs with her son David Banda and gave a speech. “I stand here proudly at the place where pride began, the legendary Stonewall Inn, on the birth of a new year,” she said. “We come together tonight to celebrate 50 years of revolution.” The Stonewall Inn was the site of riots in 1969 that began the LGBT equality movement in the U.S. The bar previously named Madonna an ambassador of its 50th anniversary festivities. She sang her song “Like a Prayer” with the crowd and also sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. “Let’s never forget the Stonewall Riots and those who stood up and said, ‘Enough.’ Half a century later, Stonewall has become a defining moment and a critical point in history,” she said.

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