It’s the crossover we never knew we needed.
The Backstreet Boys introduced Drake as their temporary “sixth member” Saturday night during their show at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto.
Fans went wild after Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson introduced the Canadian native as their surprise special guest, before the group performed a special rendition of their classic ’90s hit “I Want It That Way.”
Drake, 35, posted a 10-second clip to his Instagram that showed him crooning the song’s iconic “’Cause I want it that way” line.
“When she says she’s over men in this generation and asks why I live alone…,” he joked in the caption.
Meanwhile, a longer video shared to the Backstreet Boys’ official Twitter featured Dorough, 48, segueing from the 1999 track to belt out a couple of lines from the chorus of Drake’s 2013 hit “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”
“Toronto, I want you to make some noise and I want you to sing this song as loud as you possibly can,” Drake said on stage. “This is one of the greatest songs in music history. I’ll be on stage for it, I’ll try to sing along too.”
Naturally, their fans couldn’t help themselves from expressing an outpouring of enthusiasm and support for the collaboration.
“Drake performing with The Backstreet Boys is what dreams are made of,” one person gushed, sharing their own footage of the generation-transcending musical act.
Some were aghast that they’d missed their chance to witness the sextet in person, writing things like, “Just hold on I should have gone home for this one 😭 the fomo is so real but this is eeeppppiiiccccc 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💥💥💥 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍.”
Others voiced observations that captured the rather surreal experience of watching this precise combination of musical superstars perform together.
“I never thought i would see the backstreet boys and drake together,” one person tweeted, with another adding, “This is the best and the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!!!”
The six-person performance — a number that, as some pointed out, happens to echo Drake frequently referring to Toronto as “The 6” in his songs — marked the evening’s closing act.
However, the Backstreet Boys will be circling the globe for their DNA World Tour through November.