Drake Turns 40, Shares Personal Childhood Photos: ‘I Accept You for You’

Drake is 40 years old. For his Oct. 24 birthday, he paid tribute to his younger self on social media with a sweet, personal glimpse at who he was as a kid.

“I accept you for you,” he wrote to himself on Instagram.

There, he posted childhood pictures of himself on the eve before turning 40.

In one snapshot, he’s seen sitting on the hood of a car hugging his copy of the book My Teacher Fried My Brains.

One-upping most 40th birthday parties, Drake entered his 40s by sharing the stage with the Backstreet Boys to feature on one of his all-time favorite pop hits, “I Want It That Way.”

The “I Want It That Way” superfan basked in the joy of the stepping in as a bonus Backstreet Boy Friday night (Oct. 23), unabashedly joining on vocals throughout the 1999 single, one of BSB’s top five hits; the track peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year, and was inescapable on Top 40 radio and MTV’s TRL countdown. Drake was 13 years old in 1999.

BSB’s Howie Dorough worked in a line from Drake’s own “Hold On, We’re Going Home” at the bridge. Besides Howie, bandmates Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McClean and Kevin Richardson all showed up for the surprise birthday performance. The birthday party was reportedly hosted at New York City members-only club Casa Cipriani.

Drake wrapped up the ballad, taking on the vocal outro. Watch him croon one of his favorite songs in a video shared on X.

“Tonight isn’t about a tour, an album release, or a bunch of videos we shot,” Drake said to party guests Saturday night. “It’s about being alive, staying alive.”

He once said that something about “I Want It That Way” made him feel like he was acknowledged for the first time, and felt like he had a shot at being cool for the first time. According to Drake, the Millennium track’s “one of the greatest songs of all time.”

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.