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Adele is returning to the big stage after a 6-year absence from music -- and if you were wondering if she's still got it in the vocals department ... here's confirmation that she does.

The singer previewed a snipped of her new forthcoming single, "Easy On Me," on IG Live this weekend ... playing a good 40 seconds of what seems to be the first verse and almost the hook. She cuts it off before it gets any better ... but the consensus is, so far so good.

The track is laced with a piano melody -- and Adele starts talking about how there's no gold in the river she's been washing her hands, but how she still maintains hope.

The song is also sung in the same soulful, operatic style that Adele has carved out for herself ... as she goes low, high and everything in between. This, of course, comes before she dives into what sounds to be a crescendo that'll probably top what we've heard here.

In other words ... Adele's pipes are still intact after years of no new music. If anything, she sounds as good as ever -- if not better. That's something people often wonder about when artists take long breaks from the scene when it comes to new studio sessions. Rihanna falls into that category ... Bieber recently did too, before coming out with his latest album.

Now, it's unclear if Adele was supposed to play this before the song's out next Friday ... because she (jokingly?) said her phone was blowing up, and that she was gonna get in trouble.

She's probably kidding ... and the snippet is likely part of a bigger marketing campaign to get buzz. Not that she needs it, really -- but hey, there's no such thing as bad pub for Adele. Especially when the product is as top-notch as this almost certainly promises to be.

Adele also took some fan questions ... and weighed in on #FreeBritney, Lana Del Rey and Harry Styles. She supports the first, loves the 2nd and thinks the 3rd is a "very sweet boy."

Kanye West will almost certainly be in the building when Kim Kardashian hosts 'SNL' and we're guessing we'll see his mug and maybe hear his voice during the show, but before the show, Ye had a chitchat over coffee with one Michael Cohen.

Kanye and Cohen were spotted at an Upper East Side coffee shop Friday, according to Page Six.

It's interesting for a couple reasons. First, Cohen -- who was famously Donald Trump's fixer -- has turned on Trump in a big way. Ye's feelings, on the other hand, are not as clear. As you know, Kanye loved sporting his MAGA hat and visited Trump in the Oval back in the day.

The other interesting thing ... Cohen is under house arrest after serving time for tax fraud and lying to Congress. He got in hot water a while back after dining at a fancy French restaurant without getting permission from the Bureau of Prisons, and it's unclear whether this meeting was approved or whether provisions have been made so Cohen can venture out.

As for Kim ... she's been pulling 20 hour days rehearsing for the big show. That sounds nuts, but it's true. She's been getting to the studio at around 5 AM and staying until 3 AM the next day.

As we reported, she's getting tips from huge names in comedy, including Chappelle, DeGeneres, Corden and Schumer (not Chuck).

Dwayne Johnson is flexing in a whole new way -- he's jumping on the mic to try his hand at rapping, and he's actually got some flow!!!

The Rock features on the new Tech N9ne track, "Face Off" -- from the new album, "ASIN9NE" -- dropping a few bars at the end of the song. As the old saying goes, rap about what you know, and DJ does just that ... paying homage to his roots and his passion for extreme workouts.

Just a sample of his rhymes -- "It's about tribe, it's about power. We stay hungry, we devour. Put in the work, put in the hours and take what's ours."

There's another line about being Black and Samoan, and the Rock even drops some profanity! Censored, of course.

This isn't the first time he's showed off his musical talents. He's strummed a guitar in the ring during his WWE days, and was also featured in Wyclef Jean's music video for "It Doesn't Matter." He came close to rapping on that song, but this is the first time we've heard him ball out on the mic.

And, talk about synergy ... 'cause in true entrepreneurial spirit Dwayne's already promoting his Project Rock by Under Armour collection by integrating his featured verse in a video of him doing his thing in the gym.

Britney Spears' boys look like they're having a good time and enjoying their lives ... no matter how much drama's going on in hers.

Britney's 2 teenage sons -- Sean Preston and Jayden James -- with her ex, Kevin Federline, popped up in a couple photos on social media posted by one of Kevin's friends.

The boys were all smiles as they posed with the guy, a choreographer named Eddie Morales, who referred to Britney and K-Fed's sons as "my nephews."

Eddie also heaped praise on Federline in his post with the caption, "NOW THE WORLD WILL SEE HOW MUCH OF A GREAT DAD HE HAS BEEN !" ... seemingly suggesting Britney's conservatorship developments will shed light on Kevin's parenting skills.

Finally, Morales' post included a video of Jayden playing piano ... showing he might be following his mom's musical footsteps.

Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen's widow are paying tribute to the late rock star on the 1-year anniversary of his sad passing.

Sammy posted a black and white picture of EVH strumming his guitar while in mid-air and his long hair flailing away. Sammy, who was part of the "Van Hagar" era from 1985 to 1996, said, "I can't believe it's been a year. The man is gone but the music lives on #forever."

Eddie's widow, Janie, also posted a touching tribute saying she thinks about EVH every single day. She said among the things she misses the most ... his smile, laugh and kindness.

Janie added, "I miss this, I miss us, I miss you, and I try my best to carry on the way you would want me to. But my Peep, some days, that's really hard to do. This will never get easier because there really is no getting over you."

TMZ broke the story ... Eddie died following a long battle with cancer. He died at a Santa Monica hospital with Janie and his son, Wolfgang, by his side. Eddie's ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli, and Eddie's brother/drummer, Alex, were also by his side.

Speaking of Wolfie ... he also posted a picture on Instagram during a guitar sesh with his dad. Wolf wrote, "You fought so hard for so long, but you were still taken away. It’s just so unfair."

Britney Spears was diagnosed by medical professionals with a mental illness, but Jamie Spears and the business management team he hired felt they could free Britney from the grips of her mental problems with religion ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Jamie became a born again Christian after a stint in rehab early on in the conservatorship. Jamie knew Lou Taylor, who worked with Jamie Lynn as early as 2004 and also became a spokesperson for the family back then.

Taylor created a company called Tri Star Entertainment and in 2008 she and Jamie discussed making Tri Star the business manager in the conservatorship.

Taylor was also a fervent born again Christian ... something she talked about on the "Today" show in 2008. Taylor brought in Robin Greenhill, who worked for Tri Star, to have day-to-day contact with Britney ... helping manage her business affairs. But, we're told it went way beyond money ... Robin in particular was up in every aspect of Britney's life.

Our sources say for the first year, Jamie, Robin and Lou literally walked around with the bible in hand, proselytizing the word of God. We're told for a time they would only let Britney read religious material. And, we're told, there was a large measure of intolerance for anyone who wasn't a "good Christian."

Interestingly, Lynne Spears wrote in one of her books ... "Jamie was going to file for the conservatorship on January 22 [2008] ... but he and his business manager, Lou, felt God leading them to wait, fast and pray, despite the frustration of a phalanx of lawyers."

The religious push was on full display during the entire Circus Tour, we're told, but as the money cascaded in, religion sort of fell by the wayside and money became central to business management and the conservatorship ... so say our sources.

Tri Star was getting 5% of Britney's gross profits, and when she was performing that was an enormous amount of money. Fast forward to 2019 when Britney stopped performing. At some point, Taylor emailed Jamie and said the commissions had dwindled and she wanted a guarantee of $500,000 a year.

Some folks on the inside, including Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham, felt that was wrong, because when someone takes a percentage they tend to make more than they should for a certain period and less for other periods, but it evens out. People said some insiders felt Lou wanted it both ways. Jamie, however, didn't feel that way, and approved the $500k floor, which greatly upset some people involved.

Ray J is in bad shape, struggling to breathe as he battles pneumonia in a Miami hospital ... it was so bad he thought he was going to die.

Ray J's manager, David Weintraub, tells TMZ Ray went into the hospital 4 days ago and doctors learned from the jump he was battling pneumonia. David looped Ray in on the call and we spoke to him for several minutes, and it was apparent he wasn't out of the woods.

Ray told us ... when he was admitted doctors assumed he had COVID, so they placed him in the COVID wing of the hospital, which he said was frightening, telling us, "I thought it was over. I started praying and knew God is good so I just kept praying."

He says he was given 5 COVID tests, all of which came back negative, and after 2 days he was moved out of the COVID wing.

He's currently getting oxygen but he still has difficulty breathing and talking. He says when he wakes up at 6 AM he feels like he could go home, but by 6:30 things deteriorate and he fears the worst.

Ray says all he thinks about is getting better so he can see his 2 kids. Weintraub says Ray will hopefully be out by week's end.

Fear not, Smash Mouth fans ... Steve Harwell's recent absence is due to health conditions, but he's on the mend and will soon hit the stage again.

A rep for the American rock band tells TMZ ... Steve had not been feeling well due to issues with cardiomyopathy and heart failure, which forced him to miss a few performances. Steve's had cardiomyopathy -- a form of heart disease where the heart muscle becomes enlarged and weak, making it difficult to pump blood -- since 2015.

Fans were speculating Smash Mouth fired Steve. Someone recently tweeted the band asking, "Hey @smashmouth did y'all replace your singer & not say anything?" Someone else wrote, "ok a couple things 1) @smashmouth did you really fire your singer and B) can I be your new singer."

The answer's an unequivocal "No" to all those questions. We're told Steve manages his heart condition with meds, but recently some issues came up and things needed to be adjusted. You'll recall he was rushed to the hospital in 2017 due to his heart condition.

The band's current singer is someone the band knows and was substituting for a few shows, but it's NOT a permanent move.

The famous shot of Madonna kissing Britney Spears on stage at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards will soon have a new owner in the digital world ... it's being auctioned off as an NFT.

The actual photo of the iconic kiss was taken by Hollywood photographer, John Shearer, who's entering the NFT space with Cryptograph to sell his one-of-a-kind moment ... while raising money for a good cause.

A portion of the proceeds from the auction -- which begins the morning of October 7 and runs for 72 hours -- will benefit GLAAD.

As you recall ... the 2003 VMAs opened with Britney popping out of a wedding cake dressed as a sexy bride before being joined on stage by Christina Aguilera, also in a wedding dress, and finally ... the Material Girl.

At the end of their performance of "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood," Madonna locked lips with Spears AND Aguilera ... though the kiss with Britney got more pub.

Britney Spears is addressing her #FreeBritney crusaders for the first time since her monumental court hearing ... letting them know she knows what they've done for her.

Britney just went on Twitter -- Instagram's been down, if ya haven't heard -- and thanked all of her fans and supporters for helping her take a huge step closer to getting out of her conservatorship.

She wrote ... "#Free Britney movement … I have no words … because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship … my life is now in that direction !!!!!"

Brit added she cried last night for 2 hours thinking about how her fans are the best.

Interestingly ... she also let everyone know she just got back from a trip to French Polynesia, which is apparently how she celebrated last week's victory in court. Well, that and posting some nudes.

As we've reported ... members of the "Free Britney" movement have been pivotal in drawing attention to her case, rallying public support against her father, Jamie, and pushing to end her conservatorship.

Finally, after last Wednesday's hearing, things appear to be headed in that direction very soon ... as Jamie was suspended as conservator and steps have been activated to end Britney's conservatorship once and for all.

Shaq's no stranger to taking the stage, but audience members at his inaugural charity event got a never-before-seen performance when the NBA legend collabed with Snoop Dogg on a hip-hop classic.

The Shaquille O'Neal Foundation held their first-ever "'The Event' Presented by Pepsi Stronger Together" Saturday night in Vegas. Jimmy Kimmel took over hosting duties, but Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson and Snoop were among the performers to grab the mic.

At one point during Snoop's set, Shaq jumped on stage to perform "Nuthin' But A G Thang" ... and as expected, the crowd went wild.

The event raised $2.7 million to benefit The Boys and Girls Club and Communities in Schools throughout Las Vegas and Atlanta ... including ticket sales and a live auction.

Speaking of the auction, Shaq wowed the crowd when he bid $90k of his own cash for a walk-on role in an upcoming Adam Sandler movie.

Akon doesn't regret saying the rich and famous go through more issues than poor people, a comment for which he got significant pushback ... he says he knows what he's talking about.

We got Akon at LAX and asked if he wanted to walk back the controversial remark he shared with us last month. No dice! Instead, Akon doubled down, and explained he was speaking based on his own rags to riches story.

He says he knows what he said pissed off some people, but adds he's not backing down from his stance, because, personally ... he was actually happier before he had money.

The whole controversy started in the wake of Michael K. Williams' death ... with Akon telling us the actor's drug overdose was the latest example of a "façade of success" that often sends celebs into a tailspin.

Akon says he's just speaking from personal experience ... but there is one thing he's sorry about.

Cardi B pretty much accounted for every color in the rainbow as she hit up the Balenciaga fashion show Saturday in Paris.

Cardi and Offset caused some serious rubbernecking as they made their entrance during Paris Fashion Week.

Cardi wore an enormous hat and a super colorful trench coat covered in newsprint. And, check out the bling!

There were a bunch of celebs and supermodels on hand, but Cardi undeniably stole the show ... something that happens quite a bit.

Cardi, who gave birth just last month, is clearly back in action ... and, dare we say, looking great.

Balenciaga has cleverly engineered a publicity campaign that has put the company squarely in the zeitgeist of fashion. In addition to Cardi becoming the face of the brand, Kim Kardashian -- clearly with the help and influence of one Kanye West -- made headlines with her getup at last month's Met Gala.

If Eazy-E gets a shout-out during the Super Bowl Halftime Show in L.A. it will be a touching and monumental tribute ... so says the late rapper's daughter.

Ebie tells TMZ ... she's ecstatic about the entertainment lineup for Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, less than 15 miles from Compton, where Eazy-E grew up and formed N.W.A. with Halftime Show headliner, Dr. Dre.

Ebie, who feels her father would probably have been part of the Halftime Show lineup if he were alive, says Eazy-E would be proud because he would see an extension of himself on that stage in Compton icons Dre and Kendrick Lamar.

For that reason, she'd love for there to be some kind of acknowledgment of her father during the performance. She says Eazy-E, once the leader of N.W.A., broke barriers and revolutionized gangsta rap ... paving the way for so many other rappers.

Kendrick certainly agrees with that sentiment -- he once penned a tribute to Eazy-E in 2015 saying, "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Eazy."

Dre and Eazy, of course, had a falling out that culminated with Dre leaving the group and going solo. They later mended the childhood friendship to the point of reuniting N.W.A. but, sadly, Eazy-E died soon after in 1995 due to complications from HIV/AIDS.

Ebie knows the Halftime Show is not long .... especially trying to fit 5 huge stars in a roughly 20-minute slot. That being said, she hopes a simple shout-out -- even a "RIP Eazy-E" -- would mean the world to her.

Tory Lanez bared witness to the Haitian immigrant crisis for himself this weekend ... and he brought a ton of supplies with him to hand out -- tens of thousands worth of it, no less.

The rapper went down to the southern Texas border Saturday -- near the town of Del Rio, where thousands of Haitian immigrants, among others, are being housed as the U.S. attempts to sort through who's seeking what, and who qualifies to possibly stay temporarily.

As you can see in Tory's IG Story ... it's a bit of a chaotic situation down there, which is why he jetted down with what we're told amounted to upwards of $50,000 worth of essentials -- such as blankets, clothes, towels and other items for the folks horded in these camps.

Looks like all the stuff he brought with him were very much needed (and appreciated) ... as scores of Haitians gathered around the table where TL was handing everything out, which came delivered in a ton of boxes that were unwrapped and organized before he went out.

The reason he's doing all this ... 'cause Tory feels for these folks, many of whom have come a long way in seek of refuge and asylum -- this in the wake of devastating calamites in their home country. We're told Tory feels blessed with his platform and means ... and wanted to spread some of the wealth to these immigrants, who truly need it right now.

For Britney Spears, performing is the last thing on her mind despite big changes in her life ... and some folks around her believe she may actually never hit the stage again.

Sources close to Britney tell TMZ ... she doesn't want to work or perform right now, and that's been her mindset for a long time.

We're told Britney's enjoying her recent engagement and the fact Jamie's no longer calling the shots ... but work and performing are not on her priority list, even though she knows her fans want to see her on stage.

The day may never come ... sources say some people who have toured with Britney in the past and have had their hands in the showbiz aspect of her career feel strongly ... she may never perform again.

As you know ... Britney had a residency in Vegas for years, but she claimed in court she was forced to perform and never wanted to do her 2018 European tour.

Britney made it clear ... she would never hit the stage again as long as Jamie was involved in the conservatorship. But, anyone who listened to her in court back in June knows the tour was difficult for her ... even tormenting.