Nick Carter is still struggling to cope with the death of his younger brother, Aaron Carter.
“It’s definitely been tough for me and my family,” Nick, 43, told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published on Friday, August 25. “It is still something that we are still processing, to this day.”
He continued: “I don’t think we will ever really get over it. It’s been a lot for us, and we are finding ways to try and take a really tragic situation in our family and do something with it.”
News broke in November 2022 that Aaron was found dead in his California residence. The “I Want Candy” rapper was 34.
Nick had been touring with his Backstreet Boys band in Europe at the time of Aaron’s passing and the group — consisting of Nick, Kevin Richardson, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough — dedicated their London show to Aaron.
“[The song ‘No Place’] is very special to us because that song is about family,” Richardson, 51, said during the O2 Arena concert. “Everybody in here, we all grew up together. We’ve been through highs and lows, ups and downs.”
He added at the time: “Tonight we’ve got heavy hearts because we lost one of our family members yesterday, and we just wanted to find a moment in our show to recognize him. Nick’s little brother, Aaron Carter, passed away yesterday at [34] years old. He’s a part of our family. We thank you guys for all the love and the well wishes and all your support.”
Nick was spotted tearing up as the band performed “No Place” alongside a photo montage of Aaron, who previously opened for the group’s tours back in the early ‘90s and ‘00s.
Nick noted via his Instagram several hours earlier that his heart had been “broken” by Aaron’s death. (Aaron is survived by his siblings and his son Prince, whom he shared with Melanie Martin.)
“Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded,” Nick wrote via Instagram at the time. “I have always held onto the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed. … I love you Chizz, now you get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth. God, Please take care of my baby brother.”
An autopsy later revealed that Aaron’s cause of death was accidental after he drowned in a bathtub due to the effects of difluoroethane and alprazolam.
