Drake’s 40th birthday got a Backstreet Boys singalong
Complex reports the group joined Drake at Casa Cipriani on October 23, the night before his birthday, for “I Want It That Way.”
File photo: Drake at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival premiere of The Carter Effect. Photo by GabboT via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0; not from the birthday. GabboT · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Resized for display.
Drake’s 40th-birthday celebration brought Backstreet Boys into the room for one of the group’s most recognizable choruses. Complex reports that the band surprised guests at Manhattan’s Casa Cipriani on Friday, October 23, and brought Drake onstage for “I Want It That Way.” His birthday was October 24.
A familiar pop chorus took over the Manhattan party
Complex describes a guest list of more than 400, with Chanel and Hermès bags among the gifts and a game-show-style segment with cash prizes reaching $1 million. Those details give the party an oversized feel; the boy-band singalong supplied the night’s most recognizable pop-culture moment.
The pairing had a history: Complex notes Drake joined Backstreet Boys during their 2022 Toronto stop on the DNA World Tour. Bringing the group back for his milestone birthday connected that earlier stage appearance to a private celebration built around a song many fans already know by heart.
Complex also reports Drake made a short speech about “being alive, staying alive.” That line added a reflective note to the birthday, pairing a familiar chorus with his own acknowledgment of reaching 40.
