Hours after the news broke that Aaron Carter had died suddenly at the age of 34 of a suspected drug overdose, his older brother Nick shared a heartfelt message on Instagram. He paid tribute to his sibling and referred to Aaron Carter and Nick Carter’s relationship as “complicated”—so were the brothers close when Aaron died?
Aaron Charles Carter was born on December 7, 1987. His brother Nick was seven years older than him and his sister Leslie, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 in 2012, was a year younger than Aaron. There are a total of seven Carter children of parents Robert Gene and Elizabeth Jane Carter). The relationship between these three siblings in particular was tumultuous with allegations, restraining orders and possible violence between them at times. So, what was Aaron Carter’s relationship with Nick like when he passed? Let’s take a deep dive into their checkered past.
Nick Carter & Aaron Carter’s relationship
Nick Carter and Aaron Carter’s relationship was rocky and hostile at times. In the hours after news broke of Carter’s death, tributes flowed from everyone he touched personally. Nick admitted that while their relationship as siblings was far from perfect, they were still family. “My heart has been broken today. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held onto the hope, that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed,” he wrote on Instagram accompanying childhood photos of the pair together. “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 get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth….God, Please take care of my baby brother.”
Image: Barry King/WireImage.
As an up-and-coming pop star in his own right, Aaron would sometimes open for his big brother’s group the Backstreet Boys during live performances. Aaron was just nine when he released his own self-titled album. A rift between the two began to show publicly when Aaron didn’t attend the 2014 wedding of Nick’s marriage to Lauren Kitt, but the siblings went on to celebrate the holidays together and support each other’s work and careers through social media.
But in 2019, Aaron’s behavior became erratic. In September 2019, Aaron revealed the long list of his mental health diagnoses and his respective medication on an episode of The Doctors. “The official diagnosis is that I suffer from multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety; I’m manic depressive,” Carter began. “I’m prescribed to Xanax, Seroquel, gabapentin, hydroxyzine, trazodone, omeprazole.” During the show, Aaron held up a large bag of prescription drugs for host Dr. Travis Stork and co-host Dr. Judy Ho, giving viewers a scale of how many medications he has to take. “This is my reality … hi,” he said. “I have nothing to hide. I haven’t taken any opioids,” he shared before catching his mistake. “Oh no, no. I did. I got my teeth done, I got six crowns, so I had to take hydrocodone.”
Around the same time, Nick and Angel Carter took out a restraining order against their brother Aaron, claiming he threatened to kill Nick’s pregnant wife and unborn child. Obtaining the court order, TMZ reported Aaron had to stay at least 100 feet away from Nick, Nick’s wife and kids and other family members. In a statement released online, Nick confirmed he had acquired the order against his younger brother. He tweeted at the time: “In light of Aaron’s increasingly alarming behavior and his recent confession that he harbors thoughts and intentions of killing my pregnant wife and unborn child, we were left with no choice but to take every measure possible to protect ourselves and our family.” Aaron’s representative responded to the order, who relayed his statement to TMZ: “I am astounded at the accusations being made against me and I do not wish harm to anyone, especially my family.” Aaron himself also hit back via Twitter, pleading: “LEAVE ME ALONE. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I’M BEGGING YOU. PLEASE. I haven’t seen you guys and Nick you bullied me my whole life. And tortured me as a child. And everyone knows it. IT’S BEEN PUBLIC. And now you’re scared of the truth.”
Image: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc.
Elsewhere in the Carter family, Aaron made accusations against his late sister Leslie in a since-deleted tweet that alleged she had sexually assaulted him as a child. “My sister raped me from the age of 10 to 13 years old,” he wrote. “I have spent the last 15 years of my life going to therapy for abuse and rape, I’ve been through many different treatments, I have finally found the right treatment. I have had my ups and downs, I continue to work on my mental health and i will soon not have to take anything.”
Despite this past, Nick and the Backstreet Boys paid tribute to Aaron during a show in London on November 6, 2022, the day after Aaron’s death. While they performed the track “No Place,” a montage of photos from the late singer’s life appeared on the screen above the stage. After the song was over, Backstreet Boy member Kevin Richardson then gathered his bandmates and addressed the crowd.
“That was the latest and last single of the DNA album, and that song is very special to us because that song is about family,” he said. “Everybody in here, we all grew up together. We’ve been through highs and lows, ups and downs.” Richardson thanked the audience for being a part of the Backstreet family for 29 years before adding: “Tonight we got a little bit of heavy hearts because we lost one of our family members yesterday.”
“We just wanted to find a moment in our show to recognize that Nick’s little brother, Aaron Carter, passed away yesterday at 34 years old. He was a part of our family and we thank you guys for all the love and all the well wishes and all the support,” he continued.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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