Nick Carter is speaking out about the death of his younger brother, Aaron Carter. When the 42-year-old Backstreet Boys member heard that Aaron had died early on Saturday, he went on Instagram on Sunday to pay tribute to his friend. He was 34.
“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,” Nick began, sharing a slideshow of photos of him and Aaron throughout the years.
He continued, “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.”
In the comments section, many people liked Nick’s post. Spice Girls star Emma Lee Bunton said, “I’m Heartbroken for you and your family. Sending so much love. 💔,” and Even Stevens actress Christy Carlson Romano commenting, “This is devastating to see. Prayers for you and your family Nick.”
At their show in London on Sunday night, the Backstreet Boys paid tribute to Aaron.
“Tonight we got a little bit of heavy hearts because we lost one of our family members yesterday,” Kevin Richardson said. “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.”
On Saturday, Aaron’s body was found at his home in Lancaster, California. Lancaster is about an hour north of Los Angeles. At the time of the discovery, there were many vehicles from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department parked around the house. TMZ says that on Saturday morning, someone called 911, and when the police came, they found Aaron’s body in his bathtub. At this point, there is no evidence that points to a certain cause of death.
After the news came out, Aaron’s manager, Taylor Helgeson, confirmed that he had died and told sources that Aaron’s family would be releasing a statement soon.
Aaron and his family have been through a lot in the past few years, and in September 2019, the singer went public with his diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety, and manic depression. Everyone has had a hard time during this time. Aaron had to move or cancel a number of tour dates because of his mental health problems. In the weeks after they found out about Nick’s mental health, the three siblings got into a very heated argument with each other. Nick had a restraining order put out against his brother, which made him angry.
After that, Aaron told his brother, from whom he had been estranged, that he was finally “done” with him. “Take care. @nickcarter we’re done for life. I haven’t seen him in four years. And I don’t intend,” he tweeted at the time.
Later, the troubled singer said that his late sister Leslie had abused him sexually when he was young. Leslie died in 2010. Angel, Aaron’s twin sister, is also said to have gotten a restraining order against Aaron after asking for it.
Also, the pop star, who was 34 years old, had problems with Melanie Martin, the woman he used to date. A little over a year ago, the couple had a son, whom they named Prince. But they broke up less than a week after Melanie gave birth to their child. After what she says was a physical fight, she asked the court to put Aaron under a restraining order.
Melanie seems to have responded to the news in her own post on Saturday, which she shared on TikTok as a two-second video of her crying uncontrollably while driving a car. Even though she didn’t put a caption with the video, fans were quick to tell her how sorry they were.
One fan wrote, “I am so so sorry 🥺 Please remember you have the biggest part of him then anyone does and that is Prince.” Another fan wrote, “Stay strong for your baby, lead prince down a better road. So many blessings your way.”
Aaron is survived by his partner’s 10-month-old son, as well as his mother, Jane, and siblings Nick, Angel, and B.J.