Aaron Charles Carter (December 7, 1987 – November 5, 2022) was an American singer and rapper. He rose to fame as a teen pop singer in the late 1990s and established himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the early 2000s.
Carter began performing at age seven following the formation of his brother Nick's singing group, the Backstreet Boys. He released his self-titled debut album in 1997 at age nine, selling one million copies worldwide. His second album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It) (2000), sold three million copies in the United States. Carter soon began making guest appearances on both Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and touring with the Backstreet Boys. Carter's next album, Oh Aaron, went platinum.
Carter performed on Dancing with the Stars, in the Broadway musical Seussical, and in the off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks. He also appeared in several one-off performances. In 2014, he released the single "Ooh Wee", featuring rapper Pat SoLo. Carter released the single "Fool's Gold" in 2016 and the EP Love in 2017. His final album, Blacklisted, was released two days after his drug-related accidental death in 2022.
Aaron Charles Carter was born on December 7, 1987 in Tampa, Florida. His parents, Jane Schneck and Robert Gene Carter (1952–2017), owned a bar and later ran a retirement home. Carter's older brother, Nick, is a member of the Backstreet Boys. He also had two older sisters, Bobbie Jean (1982–2023) and Leslie (1986–2012), and a twin sister, Angel. In addition to his full siblings, Carter had an older half-sister, Ginger Lee Carter (1972–2023), and a younger half-brother, Kaden Carter. Carter attended Frank D. Miles Elementary School and Ruskin Elementary School in Florida.
Carter's parents divorced in 2004. He was told about the divorce one hour before filming his MTV Cribs episode.
Carter and his siblings starred in a reality show, House of Carters, which ran from October to November 2006 on E!. The series featured all five Carter siblings reuniting to live in the same house. Carter had a tumultuous relationship with his siblings, with many of their feuds playing out on social media in his later years. In September 2019, Carter leveled allegations of sexual abuse against his sister Leslie, who died of a drug overdose in 2012. Carter reported that the abuse began when he was ten years old, ended when he was 13, and occurred when Leslie would fail to take prescribed medication for her bipolar disorder. He also accused his brother Nick of life-long abuse and implied that Nick also abused a female family member. Nick's legal team denied the allegations. Aaron Carter made the abuse allegations against Nick after Nick and their sister Angel had sought restraining orders against Aaron; Aaron had reportedly confessed to thoughts of killing Nick's then-pregnant wife, Lauren.
In 2019, Carter and his mother, Jane, appeared in the We TV reality series Marriage Bootcamp: Family Edition. The series focuses on attempting to repair strained relationships through unconventional therapy.
1997–1999: Music beginnings and self-titled debut album
Carter began his career as the lead singer of Dead End as a seven-year-old. He left the band after two years because he wanted to perform pop music, while the other members were interested in alternative rock.
Carter made his first solo appearance at age nine, singing The Jets' "Crush on You" when opening for the Backstreet Boys in Berlin in March 1997. The performance was followed by a record contract, and in the fall of 1997, he released his first single "Crush on You". Carter's self-titled debut studio album was released on December 1, 1997. The album achieved gold status in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Spain, and was released in the United States on June 16, 1998.
2000–2001: Aaron's Party (Come Get It), acting debut, and Oh Aaron
Carter's second studio album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It), was released in the United States on September 26, 2000, under the Jive label. The album sold more than three million copies in the United States and was certified 3× platinum by RIAA. Tracks included the hit singles, "I Want Candy", "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)", "That's How I Beat Shaq", and "Bounce", all of which received airplay on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. He also made several guest appearances on Nickelodeon and performed as the opening act in several concerts for the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears' Oops!... I Did It Again Tour.
In March 2001, he made his acting debut, guest-starring on an episode of the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire. That same month, he and fellow teen star Samantha Mumba performed a concert at MGM Studios live on Disney Channel, titled Aaron Carter and Samantha Mumba in Concert. Carter's part of the concert was released on DVD the same month as Aaron's Party: Live in Concert. In April 2001, he made his Broadway debut, playing JoJo the Who in the musical Seussical.
At the age of 13, Carter recorded his third studio album Oh Aaron, released on August 7, 2001, which featured his first duet recording with his brother Nick, and a song with the group No Secrets. Play Along Toys created an Aaron Carter doll in conjunction with the album's release. Oh Aaron went platinum that same year and a live concert at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was released to DVD as Oh Aaron: Live in Concert. His songs "Leave It Up to Me", "A.C.'s Alien Nation", and "Go Jimmy Jimmy" were used in the soundtrack for the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
2002–2008: Another Earthquake, Most Requested Hits, Saturday Night and House of Carters
Carter's fourth studio album, Another Earthquake!, was released on September 3, 2002, during the Rock, Rap and Retro Tour. The album featured the patriotic-themed "America A.O." and the ballad "Do You Remember". He guest-starred on three episodes of the Nickelodeon television series All That and also sang "Through My Own Eyes", the theme song to the PBS animated series Liberty's Kids, alongside Kayla Hinkle.
Carter's Most Requested Hits, a collection including tracks from his last three albums as well as a new single, "One Better", was released on November 3, 2003.
"Saturday Night" was released on March 22, 2005, and promoted by Carter that summer. The song was released by Trans Continental label, with Lou Pearlman as executive producer. The single was also featured in the soundtrack of the film Popstar, in which Carter starred. The direct-to-video film was based heavily on his own life as a performer. A real-life motocross racer, Carter also appeared in the 2005 film Supercross.