Beyonce album to feature Adele, Mariah Carey - report

Beyonce fans have been put on high alert amid fevered speculation she is set to drop a new album on Friday (01Apr16).

The Halo hitmaker has been working on the follow-up to her self-titled surprise release in December, 2013, and she is expected to unveil her new project before she embarks on her Formation World Tour in late April (16).

On Thursday (31Mar16), an image of what appeared to be an in-house release confirmation for Columbia Records and Beyonce's Parkwood Entertainment company began circulating online.

The document, initially posted on Blavity.com, suggests the new album will take its name from her recent song Formation, which she performed at the Super Bowl football extravaganza in February (16), and feature 16 tracks, including collaborations with Adele, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Frank Ocean, and her rapper husband Jay Z.

Formation is stated as being released exclusively on Jay Z's streaming service Tidal on Friday (01Apr16), with a full release set for a week later (08Apr16).

The Friday release date is somewhat suspect as it falls on April Fools' Day, but devotees are keeping a close eye on developments as Elle magazine editors have also just unveiled a new cover shoot featuring Beyonce, alongside a rare interview.

News of the reported album release emerges four months after Adele shot down tabloid rumours alleging she had rejected an offer to collaborate with Beyonce last year (15), insisting she would "never disrespect" the superstar as she's a huge fan.

"There's a rumour going round that I turned Beyonce down," she told Apple Music DJ Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 radio show in November (15), "which I would never be so disrespectful as to do. I'd never disrespect her like that."

Adele is listed on a song called Lemonade Taste, while Mariah is noted as a collaborator on the tune Women of the World. Mariah and Beyonce recently met up at the HeartView Global Foundation charity event in Los Angeles, and the Hero singer shared a snap of the icons on Instagram, captioning it, "Two girls, one cause."

Beyonce's representatives have yet to comment on the album rumours.