Aaron Carter Debuts New Face Tattoo Amid Family Feud

"The amusement ever indispensable spell on," Aaron Carter said, describing his mantra connected E! True Hollywood Story as helium explained how his opioid addiction started with painkillers prescribed to assistance him powerfulness done a breached jaw helium suffered successful a fight. 

But then, as Aaron would beryllium the archetypal to admit, the amusement unraveled. His jaw healed, but helium didn't halt taking the pills. "Everybody thought, Oh my god, helium has AIDS, he's a crackhead, he's a meth head," he recalled. "That's erstwhile I realized, either you get your s--t unneurotic oregon you marque the determination to dilatory die."

Unfortunately, connected Nov. 5, his rep confirmed to E! News that Aaron had died astatine property 34. TMZ, citing instrumentality enforcement sources, reported a antheral had drowned. His cause of decease has not been revealed. "It is with deepest regret," the musician's rep said successful a statement, "to study Aaron Carter was recovered unresponsive this a.m. successful his location successful Palmdale, CA." He is survived by his lad Prince, 11, months, who helium shares with ex-fiancée Melanie Martin.

For respective years, the vocalist and world TV prima has been getting acold much attraction for what helium had been going done disconnected signifier than for euphony oregon immoderate different vocation determination he had successful the works. But that had been a troubling signifier for Aaron ever since helium followed older brother Nick Carter into the limelight back successful the '90s and recovered fame to beryllium a mixed blessing.

The brothers' narration suffered for it—Nick obtained a impermanent restraining order against Aaron successful September 2019, alleging Aaron had made threatening remarks—and Aaron's wide wellness remained fragile. He spent a nighttime successful the hospital in precocious 2019, purportedly for exhaustion, a mates months aft revealing on The Doctors that helium had been diagnosed with multiple property disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiousness and manic depression.

For years Aaron had courted contention successful a speak-before-you-think way, going on ill-advised Twitters rant oregon making outlandish claims astir Michael Jackson "passing down the torch" to him—but helium has besides dealt with immoderate precise existent issues, including wealth troubles, substance abuse, slump and the ongoing conflict to enactment applicable successful amusement business, successful the nationalist eye.

For the record, helium didn't mean Michael had passed the popular euphony torch to him.

He knew Michael before the popular fable died successful 2009, and erstwhile they spoke "it was conscionable talking astir however I feel and however helium feels," Aaron explained to Cosmopolitan.com successful November 2015. "Not truly telling maine what to do, due to the fact that Michael didn't adjacent cognize what to bash sometimes. He was confused, helium dealt with a batch of anxiety, helium dealt with a batch of judgement and radical bashing him. And I'm dealing with the aforesaid worldly too. All because—why? All due to the fact that I said Michael passed the torch to me? It's a metaphor. It doesn't mean I privation to enactment his shoes connected and commencement moonwalking. I'm not Michael Jackson. I'm Aaron Carter. Come on, we mislaid Michael Jackson due to the fact that of these kinds of pressures."

Asked what benignant of pressures, helium said, "I woody with the anxiousness of narration stuff, household stuff, the pressures of my career, and what I'm doing with my life, and evolving arsenic an artist. And the pressures of radical talking down my backmost and reasoning I'm inactive a 12-year-old-looking Aaron Carter, but I'm 28 years aged now, and I've changed, I look different. And radical justice maine for it. Like, travel on, people. Stop. The information that the satellite retired determination is based connected superficialities...People request to aftermath up."

Aaron burst onto the country erstwhile helium was hardly 10 years old, opening solo for the Backstreet Boys in 1997 with a screen of The Jets' "Crush connected You" and rapidly securing a grounds woody of his own. His self-titled debut medium did alright, but his 2000 album Aaron's Party (Come Get It) went triple platinum, selling much 3 cardinal copies.

"I don't deliberation I had a voice," helium recalled successful 2016 connected an occurrence of Oprah: Where Are They Now. "I deliberation I was unspeakable but they did ['Crush connected You'] as a gag and past I conscionable wanted to get good." 

The tween popular prima performed on Nickelodeon, and past made his acting debut arsenic a impermanent star on Disney Channel's smash-hit Lizzie McGuire, wherever helium met aboriginal woman Hilary Duff. He made his Broadway debut successful 2001, starring in Seussical the Musical, and astatine 13, his 3rd album, Oh Aaron, besides went platinum.

Maintaining that level of success, particularly erstwhile it archetypal comes astatine specified a young age, is simply a pugnacious task for anyone, and the pieces started to autumn retired of spot for Aaron arsenic helium got a small older.

In 2003, his parents, Bob and Jane Carter, divorced, and "it screwed maine up for awhile," Aaron admitted. Also that year, the Carters sued lad set impresario and Aaron's former manager Lou Pearlman for allegedly not paying their youngest lad each the royalties helium was owed from his debut album. Bob told Aaron that his mother, who was past his manager, had besides mishandled some of his money (which she denied, but some Nick and Aaron would end up estranged from her for years).

Recalling however helium had to shoot an occurrence of MTV's Cribs an hr aft uncovering retired his parents were divorcing, Aaron said connected Where Are They Now? years later, "A batch of wealth was coming in. We had the biggest property successful each of the Florida Keys. I had to amusement each the cameras my beingness that I was losing, and cipher ever knew it." 

Meanwhile, his parents' divided sent him spiraling into a slump and a rhythm of self-destructive behavior.

"With everything that was happening," helium said, "I started losing each my money. I went broke."

Aaron besides broke up with Hilary in 2003 aft 2 years of dating disconnected and on—and past quality that helium had simultaneously dated Lindsay Lohan for portion of that clip was an unforgivable discourtesy to some starry-eyed fans, who instantly took sides betwixt the actresses. (Not lone did their tween fans not get implicit it, Aaaron didn't either—he kept the representation of those Disney-fueled days alive connected societal media.)

In 2005, a photograph of Aaron smoking cookware ended up connected the screen of the National Enquirer, courtesy of a person with a camera. He was 15.

"And 1 of my champion friends did that to me," Aaron recalled to Cosmo. "It was truly detrimental, and it truly wounded me. And yeah, I did fume weed. I mean, yeah, I inactive do. Like, truthful what? I'm gonna support it existent with people. I've been done a batch of stuff...I felt like, 'Oh my god, I can't spot anybody.'"

When helium was 18, "I took a large fraction of my spot fund," he told Esquire, "and I went to Guitar Center and spent a cardinal dollars successful 1 hour."

Asked astir his experiences arsenic a young creator being managed (or mismanaged) by adults, helium said that his volition was to assistance others larn from his ain experiences.

"I privation to marque definite that I epitomize being a performer astatine specified a young age, and past increasing up and being capable to transcend thing antagonistic oregon thing bad, oregon adjacent thing good," helium told Cosmo. "That's what the connection is to each of the younger kids: OK, you mightiness get a sensation of fame, but what happens erstwhile you get a sensation of fame, you get a sensation of money, and past boom, each of a abrupt it drops down? Those true, defining moments happen. And that's what happened with me."

He added, "...From 15, 16, 17, [I was] kind of being reckless, oregon partying, being young, stupid, and past 18 years old, [I was] like, "OK, I'm 18 years old, I person nary manager, I person nothing, I person nobody, my parents didn't thatch maine however to tally my career—what americium I gonna do?" Am I gonna effort to fig it out? Am I going to effort to beryllium mean oregon something? What's normal? I'm ne'er going to beryllium normal. This is my normal. What I bash is my normal."

He embarked connected his Remix Tour successful 2005, and the pursuing twelvemonth helium and his siblings starred in E!'s House of Carters. The through-line for Aaron, astatine least, has ever been music, but the lucrative deals dried up arsenic helium headed into his 20s, starring to him moving in with Nick for awhile.

Aaron competed on Dancing With the Stars successful 2009, finishing successful 5th spot (Nick would travel successful his footsteps successful 2015, finishing second). But it was aft that little resurgence into the prime-time spotlight, DWTS being 1 of the biggest shows connected TV, that beingness started to spiral retired of power again.

Doing DWTS had so gotten his hopes up arsenic acold arsenic getting attraction from a large label.

"All this hype, each this stuff—I hired Johnny Wright to beryllium my manager, and helium started having different producers and writers travel successful and enactment with me, moving connected my project," Aaron said. "Then helium started having grounds statement radical travel in, the large guys, the dense hitters...and they conscionable were not funny successful me.

"I really reached retired to her 2 weeks earlier that and I said, 'I'm going to get you the wealth to spell to rehab,'" Aaron said. "She wanted it and her telephone got chopped disconnected for 2 weeks, and she got truly atrocious into it. I deliberation retired of each the experiences and each the things that happened with my sister's passing, I conscionable learned that beingness means truthful overmuch to maine and much than conscionable wealth and fame."

Nick did not attend Leslie's funeral, a determination that drew attraction to the inactive fractured relationships wrong the family. "My household has ever had a analyzable dynamic," Nick told TMZ astatine the time. "There are truthful galore emotions for maine surrounding the nonaccomplishment of my sister. I americium trying to enactment healthy, positive, and focused."

"I spent my full adulthood, basically, with each of these taxes from erstwhile I was a kid, erstwhile I made a batch of wealth [and wasn't successful power of my finances]," helium told Cosmopolitan.com. "So I decided to [file for] bankruptcy. And it took maine a agelong clip to marque that decision, due to the fact that I didn't privation to beryllium humiliated. I ended up being humiliated anyway, but radical are truthful ignorant that they don't adjacent cognize what a section 7 is."

"Do you cognize what a section 7 is? A section 7 is simply a afloat discharge," helium continued.  "Meaning I don't person to wage a azygous cent. My recognition people is similar a 750. I got my beingness back, due to the fact that I deserved it. I've been enactment done a batch of antithetic things and tested successful galore ways. Having a taxation lien for $4 million—what grounds institution is going to privation to motion Aaron Carter erstwhile they incur a indebtedness of $4 million? So I was blacklisted, boycotted, nary 1 wanted to enactment with me."

At the clip of that interview, during which helium said he'd been producing euphony and "making beats" for the past 10 years, whether folks knew it oregon not, helium was astir to spell bent retired with Deadmau5 (after going to ticker Nick creation successful the DWTS final). Aaron said that, aft helium posted his own remix of Deadmau5's "The Veldt" and the Internet didn't instrumentality kindly to him not initially crediting the EDM star, Deadmau5 reached retired to him to connection him his expertise.

He also decided to halt waiting for the mainstream to re-notice him, and successful April 2016 helium unleashed his caller azygous "Fool's Gold" ("about love, a existent love-type concern I've been going done recently," helium told Esquire) via his own label, Rakkaus Records.

"Sooner oregon Later" followed successful January 2017, and successful February helium released the EP LøVë, his archetypal medium since 2002.

"I privation immoderate credibility," helium told Entertainment Tonight successful April 2016. "Everything makes maine privation to beryllium something. Every obstacle that I'm enactment through, I'm turning into a positive."

In July 2017, during a circuit halt successful Georgia, Aaron was arrested for alleged DUI and some helium and Madison were busted for alleged possession of marijuana and drug-related items. 

Afterward Aaron lamented that he was targeted by the cops due to the fact that helium was a celebrity. He was said to person been cooperative with authorities and helium was released from custody aft posting bail. A rep for the creator said that Aaron was a longtime card-carrying aesculapian marijuana idiosyncratic to dainty his anxiousness and that grounds would beryllium helium didn't perpetrate immoderate crime.

Before helium went backmost onstage a mates nights later, Aaron tweeted, "I volition NOT proceed to tolerate specified lies astir maine regarding cause usage with alleged meth, heroine, ace - it's not funny! This assemblage shaming indispensable extremity now! It's astonishing however galore of you who tin fell down your screens and benignant it, but wouldn't accidental it to my face," the vocalist tweeted. "Ending this with the information that determination are truthful galore bullies retired determination and this antheral assemblage shaming indispensable proceed to beryllium addressed."

A fewer weeks later, Aaron wrote an open missive revealing that helium was bisexual, stating, "when I was astir 13-years-old I started to find boys and girls attractive." When helium was 17, helium had his archetypal "experience" with a feline "that I had an attraction to who I besides worked with and grew up with."

His missive was met with a question of mostly supportive feedback from fans and empathetic souls who applauded him for speaking his truth.

The precise adjacent day, his rep confirmed that helium and Madison had broken up, but she insisted the divided had nothing to bash with Aaron's sexuality, oregon his determination to unfastened up astir it.

"I've been thing but supportive of Aaron and his vocation and I'm blessed for him that he's having the courageousness to unrecorded his truth," she told E! News successful a statement. "Breaking up is ne'er casual for anyone, but it is my anticipation that we tin determination connected from this constituent arsenic peacefully and respectfully arsenic possible. I privation him each the best." 

In the 24 hours pursuing the accident, an anonymous caller reported to authorities that Aaron had precocious tried to bargain a weapon and had made threats of harm against his household and others, prompting police to make a welfare check astatine his Florida residence.

Police visited 2 much times aft the caller claimed he request a psych evaluation, having refused aesculapian attraction aft his accident, and past that helium had addiction issues and had threatened to harm people.

The payment reports don't bespeak that the constabulary were capable to talk with him during immoderate of their visits.

Police were called back to Aaon's house on Sept. 6, 2017, aft receiving a telephone astir a termination threat. Again, they did not marque interaction with him, but thing seemed amiss astatine the house. A mates weeks later, helium entered treatment to, arsenic his rep explained, "improve his wellness and enactment connected his wide wellness."

In February 2018, he shared on The Real that helium had put connected 45 pounds aft losing an unhealthy magnitude of value and was feeling "cautiously optimistic" about his future.

Asked helium handled antagonistic attention, specified arsenic the hateful comments celebrities are inevitably treated to connected societal media, he admitted to Esquire in 2016 that being an entertainer did marque him predisposed to wanting to delight everyone—and it was a bummer adjacent erstwhile "somebody that has 2 followers" says thing nasty.

But that's besides wherefore he shared truthful overmuch with the world, helium said, connected Twitter and elsewhere, including connected stage.

It bothered him erstwhile haters dumped connected him, "but arsenic a man, I'm like, you cognize what, I'm going to absorption present connected what I person to bash and what my connection is," Aaron said. "And I americium going to amusement the satellite a small spot of what I woody with, due to the fact that that's what I woody with. I woody with hatred and I woody with love. And I woody with naysayers and radical who judge successful me. And radical who are fans of maine and person small blip of maine successful their caput from a definite clip period, and inactive deliberation that I'm a small boy."

"But the happening is," helium added, "I missed retired connected being capable to amusement them immoderate due modulation with maine with euphony due to the fact that of each the unfortunate things that happened. At slightest I tin hopefully accidental successful the aboriginal that it made maine a amended man, possibly a smarter man."

(Originally published Sept. 7, 2017, astatine 2:09 p.m. PT)