Watch Drake Deliver Sentimental 40th Birthday Speech: 'Tonight Is About Being Alive'

Drake turned his 40th birthday celebrations into a message of gratitude to his close friends and family members.

On Friday (October 23), the day before Drizzy’s 40th birthday, the Iceman rapper held a party for 400 guests at New York City venue Casa Cipriani and thanked those who were in the room.

"There's a lot of extremely important people who I resonate with in here because they work extremely hard," the five-time Grammy winner told the audience. "And even though it's a Friday, I know we take time for ourselves."

"I wanted to say thank you," he continued. "Tonight is not about a tour or an album release or a bunch of videos that we shot or a fragrance or a Nike shoe. Tonight is just about being alive, staying alive."

Gifts were given out by the birthday boy, with attendees walking away with Chanel and Hermès handbags, per Billboard, while a game show handed out cash prizes worth up to $1 million.

Among the night’s biggest surprise was a performance by the Backstreet Boys, with Drake joining the boy band onstage for their 1999 single "I Want It That Way." The rapper had previously performed the hit with Backstreet Boys during the group's 2022 DNA World Tour stop in Toronto, and told the group that he had his first kiss to the same song as a child.

Ahead of the New York event, on Wednesday (October 21), Drake gathered with friends at Toronto's CN Tower, among them OVO signee Popcaan, and was surprised with a collage of photos and memories.

He later flew to New York with his mother, Sandi Graham, and entourage aboard his private Boeing 767, nicknamed Air Drake, and dined at SoHo Italian restaurant Mamo on Thursday night (October 22).