Most people get gifts on their 40th birthday. Drake handed out a $1 million cash prize at his, according to an exclusive source who spoke to PEOPLE.
The Toronto rapper, who turned 40 on Saturday, Oct. 24, threw his celebration a night early at Casa Cipriani in Manhattan on Friday, Oct. 23.
The insider described the evening as “so elegant, over the top and expensive,” adding that “the whole place was decorated very lavish, but tasteful.”
The giveaways were where things got wild. Guests walked away with Chanel and Hermès bags, plus cash prizes that started at $10,000 and topped out at that seven figure sum, the source says.
Then came the entertainment. The Backstreet Boys were booked as the night’s performers, and Drake couldn’t resist getting in on the action.
He jumped onstage with Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough to sing their 1999 hit “I Want It That Way.”
Fans with long memories will know this isn’t new territory for him, since he previously performed the same song with the group at a 2022 Toronto concert.
The crowd was big without being overwhelming. A second source tells PEOPLE that roughly 400 people attended the bash.
By the insider’s account, the guest of honour was in great spirits all night. There were lots of different beautiful women Drake was chatting with all night,” the source said. “He always had a huge smile on his face.”
He had good reason to grin, and not only because of the party. That same Friday, the RIAA awarded Drake 30 new certifications, making him the first artist ever to pass 350 million RIAA certified units, per Billboard.
The milestone lands near the end of a year that has been heavy on records for the Certified Lover Boy rapper. In May, he broke Michael Jackson’s record for the most No. 1 songs by a solo male artist when “Janice STFU” debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
That chart run arrived just a couple of weeks after he surprised fans with a triple album drop on May 15. ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR all arrived on the same day, giving listeners three full projects to dig through at once.
For a guy who spent the year collecting plaques and breaking chart records, the party flipped the usual birthday script.
Instead of being showered with presents, Drake played host and gift giver to a room full of guests, with designer bags and envelopes of cash going out the door.
The celebrating isn’t done yet, either. The source says a second birthday party is planned for Saturday, and details on who’s showing up to that one haven’t surfaced.
