Oct
World Music
Drake Turns 40: Backstreet Boys Surprise The Rapper With ‘I Want It That Way’ At His New York Birthday Bash
Mumbai, 24th October 2026: Drake rang in his 40th birthday with a night straight out of a pop fan’s dream. At a lavish party at Casa Cipriani in New York on Friday, 23rd October, just hours before his official birthday, the Backstreet Boys took the stage as a surprise act. The Toronto superstar then joined the boy band to sing their 1999 classic ‘I Want It That Way’, turning the celebration into one of the most talked-about music moments of the week.
The party itself was nothing short of extravagant. According to reports, Drake hosted more than 400 of his closest friends and family, who walked away with luxury gifts including Chanel and Hermès handbags. Guests could also take part in a game show with cash prizes reportedly going up to $1 million. The New York bash capped off a week of celebrations that began on Wednesday with a private gathering at Toronto’s CN Tower, where friends, including OVO signee Popcaan, surprised him with a collage of memories. Drake then flew to New York on his customised Boeing 767, ‘Air Drake’, with his mother and entourage.
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The Backstreet Boys connection runs deep. At a July 2022 stop of the group’s DNA World Tour in Toronto, they introduced Drake as their ‘sixth member’, and he performed the same song while weaving in parts of his own hit ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’. Drake has spoken about how the track is tied to his bar mitzvah, when a girl he liked asked him to dance to it, a moment he described as the first time he felt he had a shot at being cool.
The milestone birthday comes at the peak of a record-breaking year. In May 2026, his albums ‘Iceman’, ‘Habibti’ and ‘Maid of Honour’ debuted at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the Billboard 200, making him the first artist to hold the chart’s top three spots at the same time. With more than 400 Billboard Hot 100 entries and 14 No. 1s, the most of any solo male artist, Drake enters his forties as one of the most dominant figures in global music.
