Aaron Carter, 2000s teen pop singer and actor, has died at the age of 34. His management confirmed the news to Vulture. TMZ previously reported that Carter was found unresponsive in a bathtub in his home in Lancaster, California, on Saturday morning. Police allegedly received a call that the singer had drowned in the tub. Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, said on Instagram that “addiction and mental illness†were to blame for his younger brother’s death. “I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know,†Nick wrote in his tribute. “I love you Chizz. Now you can finally have the peace you could never find here on earth….I love you baby brother.â€
Influenced by Nick, Aaron began performing at age 7 and released his first album, Aaron Carter, at the age of 9. His second album, Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), released in the new millennium in 2000 and sold over 3 million copies in the United States, leading to Aaron becoming an opening act for Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. He eventually began his acting career when he guest starred in the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire for its Christmas episode, where Lizzie, played by Hilary Duff, tried to sneak in to one of his music videos and the two shared a kiss under the mistletoe. Several of his songs — “Leave It Up to Me,†“A.C.’s Alien Nation,†and “Go Jimmy Jimmy†— were included on the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001) soundtrack. Later on, in 2009, he competed on Dancing With the Stars alongside Karina Smirnoff and finished in fifth place.
Throughout his life, Aaron struggled with mental health and substance-abuse issues. Aaron first entered a treatment facility in 2011 and reentered rehab a few years later in 2017 after being arrested for a DUI and marijuana charges. He also struggled with his relationship with his family. Their lives were front and center in the short-lived E! reality series House of Carters, where all five Carter siblings (Nick, Leslie, Aaron, Angel, and Bobbie Jean) lived together and tried to reconnect as a family. However, the family tension only grew until it escalated in 2019, when Nick Carter filed a restraining order against Aaron. He is survived by his son, Princeton Lyrik Carter, whom he had with his former fiancée Melanie Martin.
This post has been updated.