Aaron Carter

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Aaron Carter was nine years old when he walked onto a stage in Berlin in March 1997 to open for the Backstreet Boys, the group his older brother belonged to. He was 34 when he died, in 2022. Between those two points lay millions of records sold, a childhood lived in public, and a long dispute over who controlled the money he earned.

  His story raises hard questions. What happens to a child who becomes a star before he is old enough to sign his own contracts? Who was looking after his earnings, and who was looking after him? And what did a teen idol do when the audience that adored him grew up?

  2241627

• 2. Chart Years

  ›

  Aaron Charles Carter was born on the 7th of December 1987 in Tampa, Florida. At seven he became the lead singer of a band called Dead End. He quit after two years, because he wanted to sing pop and his bandmates were drawn to alternative rock.

  The pop route paid off quickly. A record contract followed that first solo appearance, and in the fall of 1997 he released his first single, "Crush on You". His self-titled debut album came out on the 1st of December 1997. It reached gold status in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Spain, and sold one million copies worldwide. American listeners had to wait until the 16th of June 1998.

  The real breakthrough was Aaron's Party (Come Get It), released in the United States on the 26th of September 2000 on the Jive label. It sold more than three million copies there and was certified 3x platinum. Its singles included "I Want Candy" and "That's How I Beat Shaq", and they got airplay on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Carter also opened for the Backstreet Boys and for Britney Spears on her Oops!... I Did It Again Tour.

  At 13 he recorded Oh Aaron, released on the 7th of August 2001. It featured his first duet with his brother Nick, and a toy company made an Aaron Carter doll to mark the launch. The album went platinum that same year. Three of its songs, including "Go Jimmy Jimmy", also appeared on the soundtrack of the film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

  Another Earthquake! arrived on the 3rd of September 2002, during the Rock, Rap and Retro Tour. It carried the patriotic "America A.O." and a ballad called "Do You Remember". It would be his last studio album for more than 15 years. A compilation, Most Requested Hits, followed on the 3rd of November 2003, with a new single called "One Better".

  2423262535

• 3. Screen and Stage

  ›

  In March 2001, Carter made his acting debut on Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire, in an episode titled "Here Comes Aaron Carter". That same month he and fellow teen star Samantha Mumba performed a concert at MGM Studios, shown live on Disney Channel. His half of it was released on DVD as Aaron's Party: Live in Concert.

  One month later, in April 2001, he made his Broadway debut as JoJo the Who in the musical Seussical. Television kept calling. He guest-starred on three episodes of Nickelodeon's All That, and he sang "Through My Own Eyes", the theme to the PBS animated series Liberty's Kids, alongside Kayla Hinkle. He also voiced a character named Joseph Plumb Martin in two episodes of that series.

  In 2005 he starred in the direct-to-video film Popstar, which drew heavily on his own life as a performer. He played JD McQueen. The same year he appeared in Supercross, a fitting role for a real-life motocross racer. In October and November 2006, the E! network aired House of Carters, in which all five Carter siblings moved into one house together. It ran for eight episodes, and Aaron also produced it.

  In 2009 he joined season 9 of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Karina Smirnoff, and they finished in fifth place. On the 7th of November 2011, he began a run in the off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks at the Snapple Theater Center in New York City. The show is billed as the world's longest running musical, and Carter played Matt, its central character. In January 2012 he was one of eight celebrities on the Food Network series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, and he was eliminated in the first episode.

  His final television role came in 2019 in the We TV series Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars Family Edition, where he appeared with his mother, Jane. The show set out to repair strained relationships through unconventional therapy.

  2829303439

• 4. Money and Family

  ›

  In 2004, Carter's parents divorced, and he was told about it one hour before he filmed an episode of MTV Cribs. His parents, Jane and Robert, had run a retirement home in Tampa. Aaron had an older brother, Nick, and three full sisters: his twin Angel, Bobbie Jean (known as BJ) and Leslie. He also had a half-sister, Ginger Lee, and a half-brother, Kaden.

  Under the California Child Actor's Bill, 15% of a young performer's earnings is meant to go into a Coogan account. Carter said that did not happen. In his words: "I got… $2 million when I turned 18 years old. I should have had at least $20 million in my account." After he turned 18 in 2005, he said, he learned that he owed $4 million in back taxes.

  Carter also claimed that his earnings helped his parents buy 30 cars and 15 houses, yet he received nothing when the properties were sold. He further claimed that his father fired a .44 Magnum near his ear to pressure him into signing a $256,000 check. According to Carter, that left him with 70% deafness in one ear.

  Business disputes ran alongside the family ones. In 2002, his parents sued his former manager, Lou Pearlman, saying that hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties on the 1998 album had gone unpaid. The album had come out through Pearlman's label, Trans Continental. On the 13th of March 2003, Pearlman was held in contempt of court for ignoring an order to hand over royalty documents. The suit was settled out of court.

  The label returned to Carter's story on the 21st of March 2006, when Trans Continental sued him in Los Angeles County Superior Court for reneging on a recording deal. He had signed it on the 7th of December 2004, at 17. His attorney argued that he had the right to "cancel or void various agreements" signed as a minor.

  On the 22nd of November 2013, Carter filed for bankruptcy to shed more than $3.5 million in debt, mostly taxes on income from his years as a minor star. The filing said he owed the Internal Revenue Service $1.3 million in back taxes on his 2003 earnings. He settled all of his tax debt in 2014.

  His relationships with his siblings were also stormy, and many of their feuds played out on social media. In September 2019, Carter accused his sister Leslie, who had died of a drug overdose in 2012, of sexually abusing him. He said it began when he was ten, ended when he was 13, and happened when she failed to take medication prescribed for her bipolar disorder. He also accused Nick of life-long abuse. Nick's legal team denied the allegations. They surfaced after Nick and Angel sought restraining orders against Aaron, who reportedly confessed to thoughts of killing Nick's then-pregnant wife, Lauren.

  9086899319

• 5. Health and the Law

  ›

  In February 2008, a speeding stop in Kimble County, Texas, ended with Carter's arrest after officers found just under two ounces of marijuana in his car. That was the first of several brushes with the law. On the 23rd of January 2011, his manager, Johnny Wright, announced that Carter had entered a treatment facility "to heal some emotional and spiritual issues he was dealing with." Carter's first message to fans afterward read: "The main thing in life is not to be afraid of being human." On the 10th of February 2011, it was announced that he had completed a month of rehab at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California.

  In July 2017, he was arrested in Georgia on suspicion of driving under the influence and on marijuana charges. He agreed to plead no contest to reckless driving. He was placed on probation, ordered to do community service and told to pay $1,500 in court fees and fines.

  Two months later, in September 2017, Carter appeared on the syndicated health show The Doctors to discuss the attention his gaunt appearance had drawn. Tests showed no cancer and no sexually transmitted disease. They did reveal a candida infection, which can signal a weakened immune system. He tested negative for illegal drugs but positive for a mixture of benzodiazepines and opioids, which he said he took for anxiety and sleep.

  At 115 lb, he was malnourished and underweight. Doctors advised a rehabilitation program and continued medical care, and he admitted himself to Alo House, a treatment center in Malibu, California. By February 2018 he reported improvement and a weight of 160 lb. On a return visit to The Doctors in 2019, he said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder and acute anxiety.

  His personal safety was also in question. In August 2019, a court granted Carter a restraining order against his ex-girlfriend, the Russian model Lina Valentina, after she reportedly threatened to stab him. In March 2020, his girlfriend Melanie Martin was arrested in Los Angeles after an alleged domestic violence incident against him.

  7577978084

• 6. Second Act

  ›

  In 2013, Carter launched the After Party Tour, his first tour in eight years. It ran from February to December and included over 150 shows in the United States and Canada. In June 2014, he played an 11-city Canadian tour, previewing songs from an album then still to come. The 50-date Wonderful World Tour followed, named for one of those songs. It ran from September 2014 to January 2015.

  In July 2014, he performed the single "Ooh Wee", featuring the rapper Pat SoLo, on Good Day L.A. In February 2015, he put out an EP called The Music Never Stopped on SoundCloud. On the 31st of January 2016, he released a video for "Curious" under the name Kid Carter. He co-directed it with Michael D. Monroe and Ben Epstein of MDM Media.

  The singles "Fool's Gold" in April 2016 and "Sooner or Later" in January 2017 led into the EP LØVË in February 2017. Carter produced it and released it independently through his new venture, Rakkaus Records. An album of the same name, his fifth studio album, followed on the 16th of February 2018. From 2018 to 2020 he co-headlined the Pop 2000 Tour.

  His private life drew as much attention as his music. As a teenager, he dated Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan. On the 17th of September 2006, at 18, he proposed on stage at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas to former beauty queen and Playboy model Kari Ann Peniche. Six days later, he broke off the engagement, calling his decision to propose impulsive.

  In August 2017, Carter came out as bisexual on Twitter. In December he discussed his career and sexuality on the podcast LGBTQ&A, adding that all his past relationships had been with women. By then he had dated Madison Parker from 2016 until August 2017.

  In January 2020, the German artist Jonas Jödicke tweeted that Carter was using his copyrighted artwork without permission to promote merchandise. Carter replied that Jödicke "should've taken it as a compliment." Jödicke told Forbes he was "absolutely amazed" at the response. In June 2021, Carter agreed to pay him $12,500.

  Money was still on his mind. In March 2020, he opened an OnlyFans account to earn income, charging $50 to $100 per nude photo or $26 a month. PinkNews wrote that "the prices are steep and the content is bizarre." In August 2021, he was announced for the Las Vegas production of Naked Boys Singing! but was let go before opening night because he refused a COVID-19 vaccination. On the 22nd of November 2021, he and his then-fiancée Melanie Martin had a son.

  4244464859

• 7. The Last Releases

  ›

  On the 5th of November 2022, a housekeeper found Carter's body in the bathtub of his home in Lancaster, California. His ashes were left in the care of his twin sister, Angel, and were later interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills. The cause was not made public right away. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner later ruled it an accidental drowning, after he inhaled difluoroethane and took alprazolam, sold as Xanax.

  Two days later, his producers released a sixth album, Blacklisted, on all music platforms as a tribute. It had been planned for the 7th of December, which would have been his 35th birthday. Carter's management, who had not authorized the release, criticized it. The album was deleted in late November and is no longer available. Some of its songs later reappeared on an EP called The Prince of Pop, put out by his collaborator 3D Friends.

  The family losses continued. His half-sister Ginger Lee and his sister BJ both died in 2023. On the 5th of April 2024, a new posthumous release was announced under the title "Recovery". It came out on the 24th of May.

  2741616263