Kanye West 39th birthday: Life Of Pablo album release, Ellen DeGeneres interview and other highlights

Celebrations will be in abundance for Kanye West today (8 June) as the rapper marks his 39th birthday. The past 12 months have been incredibly hectic for the Famous hitmaker with the release of his album, The Life Of Pablo, and birth of his son, Saint West, among major milestones.

As always, West has kept the world entertained with his musings on life whether it be a lengthy all-caps rant on Twitter or an awkward interview with Ellen DeGeneres. Simply put, it has been an eventful year for the self-professed god but he wouldn't want it any other way as he sings on the Pablo track Highlights: "Tell my mama that I only want my whole life to only be highlights."

In celebration of his final year as a thirtysomething, IBTimes UK looks back at the biggest moments from the last year in the life of Yeezus.

The Life Of Pablo album release

Some people got roses on Valentine's Day, others got Kanye West's new album. After a three-year wait, the rapper finally released his seventh studio album, The Life Of Pablo, on 14 February. The record boasted a star-studded guest list with writing and production credits including Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, Swizz Beatz, Boi-1da, Metro Boomin and The Weeknd.

The release was slightly bungled with West changing the tracklist several times and some people not willing to sign up to music streaming service Tidal simply to hear the album where it was streaming exclusively. With the album initially not put on general release, it was reported that West had lost an estimated $10m (£6.8m) in sales during its first week of release.

Still, fans were just ultimately happy to have new music from Yeezus and thought it was an all-round great body of work.

New York Fashion Week show

Fashion still remains a priority in West's career plans and it paid off way in a big way at the beginning of 2016. Coinciding with the release of Pablo, West launched his Yeezy season three collection with a sold-out runway show at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Everyone was in attendance from Kim Kardashian to 50 Cent and Jay Z, while supermodel Naomi Campbell appeared in the show.

Birth of son Saint

West and wife Kim Kardashian celebrated a new arrival shortly before Christmas with their son, Saint West, born on 5 December. The proud father hinted that he and Kardashian could give Saint and daughter North another sibling to play with, telling Ellen DeGeneres that they might try for a third child.

THAT Ellen DeGeneres Show interview

Daytime talk show host DeGeneres usually gives as good as she gets with her guests but even she was stunned when West popped by her show in May. The rapper spent eight-minutes ranting about wide-ranging topics including the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, his struggles in the fashion industry and asking Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg for a $1bn (£687,000,000) loan via Twitter. The interview was TV gold, DeGeneres' bemused facial expression was priceless and it will go down in history as one of West's most entertaining moments.