Aaron Carter Dead At 34
• Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Backstreet Boys’ member Nick Carter and former teen pop singer-turned-reality show contestant who battled years of addiction and mental health issues – and was found dead in his Lancaster, CA, home Saturday, having apparently drowned his bathtub. He was only 34 years old.
As Variety reports, Carter’s musical career was launched in 1997 at the age of 9 when he landed a record contract after opening for the Backstreet Boys. His debut album, featuring the hit track “Crush on You,” went gold in December of that year. His second album, 2000’s triple-platinum Aaron’s Party (Come and Get It), featured the hits “That’s How I Beat Shaq” and “I Want Candy,” and launched him as the opening act on tours by Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys.
Carter later made appearances on Nickelodeon’s All That! and Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire, recorded several more albums, starred alongside his siblings in the short-lived reality series House of Carters on E!, appeared in the Broadway production of Seussical the Musical and finished fifth on Season 9 of Dancing With the Stars. He released a single, “Fool’s Gold” in 2016 and his fifth album, Love, in 2018.
Carter had become an embattled figure in recent years, revealing in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with multiple mental health issues. Weeks later, his brother, Nick, obtained a restraining order against him. In September of this year, Carter enrolled in rehab for a fifth time in hopes to regain custody of his now-11-month-old son, Prince. He and his ex-fiancée, Melanie Martin, lost custody due to domestic violence and drug concerns.
Nick Carter, who was due to perform with Backstreet Boys at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday, shared his feelings about his brother in a heartfelt tribute posted to Instagram, reading, “My heart is broken. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed. Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss, but the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here. I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know. I love you Chizz. Now you can finally have the peace you could never find here on earth… I love you baby brother.” [Photo from Instagram]
