ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
The pop star Adele is back. After three years of radio silence, she has a new song, "Hello," and a third album on the way.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO")
ADELE: (Singing) Hello from the other side. I must have called a thousand times to tell you...
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
The response has been big. Record numbers of people are streaming the song on Spotify and Vevo. There were over a million and a half views of the song's video within an hour of its release.
SIEGEL: There have been think pieces about her use of a flip phone, viral memes and mash ups, and a skit by Ellen DeGeneres.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW")
ELLEN DEGENERES: Adele and I are good friends, and a lot of people don't realize her new song is based on a conversation that we had.
SIEGEL: That's from the daytime talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW")
DEGENERES: Take a look.
(PHONE RINGING)
DEGENERES: Hello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO")
ADELE: (Singing) Hello, it's me.
DEGENERES: Oh hey, Adele. What's going on with you?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO")
ADELE: (Singing) I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet.
DEGENERES: I'm - the connection's bad. Did you say you're eating beets?
(LAUGHTER)
MCEVERS: And in what might be the Internet's biggest honor, Adele has gotten the Attenborough treatment.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: The year is 2015. The world appears to have a green tint to it. We are about to witness one of the great phenomena of the natural world. The lesser-spotted Adele is about to be everywhere again.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO")
ADELE: (Singing) Hello.
ATTENBOROUGH: Hello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO")
ADELE: (Singing) It's me.
MCEVERS: That's Sir David Attenborough on BBC Radio 1 addressing the latest biggest thing, Adele's "Hello."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO")
ADELE: (Singing) To go over everything. They say that time's supposed to heal... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.