Justin Bieber marked what would have been Tupac Shakur's 40th birthday on Thursday (16Jun11) by posting a video tribute to the late star online.

The teenage pop sensation went online to honour the slain rapper, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996, by posting footage from a 2009 interview which showed him talking about his love for the hip-hop legend.

Bieber re-posted a message from his bodyguard Kenny Hamilton, who wrote on Twitter.com, "Tupac would’ve been 40 yrs (sic) old today…Happy Birthday Pac! Miss ya bro! Still got your pictures on my wall in the room I grew up in!”

The pop star added a link to a film which showed him talking about Shakur and singing along to his hits, writing, "It's 2pac's bday (sic)!... You know I'm a 2pac fan... 2PAC4LIFE."