Before his death at the age of 34 on Saturday,Aaron Carterlived a life full of extraordinary highs and dark lows.
Born in 1987 to mom Jane and dad Bob, the singer became a global superstar when he released his self-titled debut album at the age of 10. In 2000, he released his second album,Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), which spawned hits including the title track, “That’s How I Beat Shaq” and his cover of The Strangeloves' “I Want Candy.”
Before embarking on his first solo tour in 2000, he opened on tour for his older brotherNick Carter’sband the Backstreet Boys and forBritney Spears.
The young multi-hyphenate was also an actor, appearing as himself in such shows asLizzie McGuireandSabrina the Teenage Witch, as well as roles in7th Heavenand the moviesFat Albert,PopstarandSupercross.
“My mom and dad did a really good job,” Carter told PEOPLE of his childhood stardom in 2018. “When I grew up, I had a bodyguard outside my door. I wasn’t allowed to party. I wasn’t allowed to do anything. As soon as I got, like, 17 years old, 16 years old, I started being very rebellious.”
At the age of 18 in 2006, Carter proposed toPlayboymodel Kari Ann Peniche onstage at Las Vegas' Palms Casino Resort, in front of a crowd of 200 gathered for thePlayboyComedy Tour. However, just six days later, they made a “mutual decision” to call it off.
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“He’s really young and just needs to get his act together,“Peniche told PEOPLEat the time. “I don’t know what’s going on right now. We’re friends and maybe we’ll get back together sometime. We haven’t ruled out getting back together.”
The same year, Carter and Nick, 42, faced off in a fistfight before the premiere of their E! reality show,House of Carters, which also featured their parents and other three siblings, Bobbie Jean, Leslie (who died of an overdose at the age of 25 in 2012) and Angel.
“We’ve had some very tough times,“Bob told PEOPLE in 2008.
In 2008, police in Texas pulled Carter over for speeding and arrested him after findingmore than two ounces of marijuanain his vehicle.
RELATED VIDEO: Aaron Carter and Fiancée Melanie Martin Break Up a Week After Son’s Birth: ‘I Was Deceived’
Bob told PEOPLE at the time that he hoped the arrest would serve as a wake-up call.
“Aaron has always thought he was invincible,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a knock in the head to get people back on track. I hope that’s what happens here.”
Carter went on to compete on season 9 ofDancing with the Starsin 2009, coming in 5th with partnerKarina Smirnoff.
By January 2011, Carter’s manager, Johnny Wright, announced that the singer hadchecked into the Betty Ford Centerin Rancho Mirage, Calif., “to heal some emotional and spiritual issues he was dealing with.”
Soon after entering the facility,Carter shared a message to his fans via social media. “The main thing in life is not to be afraid of being human.” On Feb. 10, 2011, he was released after completing a month-long stay.
On Nov. 22, 2013, news broke that Carter filed a bankruptcy petition to cover more than $3.5 million worth of debt, including $30,000 worth of credit card bills. However, his publicist at the time, Steve Honig, had an optimistic take on the matter.
“This is not a negative thing,“he told CNN. “It’s actually very positive. It’s him doing what he needs to do to move forward.” His debts included $1.3 million in back taxes from his 2003 income, when he was a 16-year-old pop star. The matter — and the bills —were resolved in 2014.
Two months after his father died of a heart attack in May 2017, Carter was pulled over again in Habersham County, Georgia, and charged with driving under the influence, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and possession of drug-related objects.TMZreported at the time that he refused to undergo a breathalyzer and drug test to determine whether he was driving under the influence. He was booked on $4,610 bond.
Aaron Carter.Michael Bezjian/Getty for The Artists Project
Nick shared a message to his younger brother on Twitter following news of the incident. “To my brother: I love u no matter what & if u feel the need to reach for help, I am here and willing to help you get better,” he wrote. “Family isn’t always easy, [but] we’re all here for you.”
In a public statement posted on Twitter, Carter made it clear that he didn’t think his brother went about the situation in the right way.
“If my own blood truly cared about my well-being, why wouldn’t he call me directly and have a conversation instead of making this about him through a very public forum?” he said in the statement. “That’s not cool at all to use me for his PR and kick me while I am down. I love my family despite it through thick and thin.”
In alengthy public letterposted to Twitter on Aug. 5, 2017, Carter revealed something that had been “weighing on my chest for nearly half my life” — his bisexuality.
“I grew up in this entertainment industry at a very young age and when I was around 13 years old I started to find boys and girls attractive,” he wrote.
As a younger teenager, he famously had relationships withLindsay LohanandHilary Duff, but at 17 years old he said he “had an experience with a male that I had an attraction to who I also worked with and grew up with.”
Aaron Carter.Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
Less than a day after Carter opened up about his bisexuality,news broke that he and Madison Parker had ended their relationship.
Then in March 2018, Carter said that his statement regarding his sexuality had beenmisconstrued.
“It was more so just a story that happened when I was like 17 with somebody. And I can find men and women attractive, but when it comes down to it, I think it was a little misconstrued,” Carter toldHollywood Life. “I see myself being with a woman and having kids. I want to have a family.”
He clarified, “I keep telling people that. I don’t want it to be misconstrued too much just because I was open about a story.”
A month after posting his note about his bisexuality in 2017, Carterchecked into rehabfollowing a number of police welfare checks at his Florida home.
“Aaron has decided to enter a facility to improve his health and work on his overall wellness,” Honig told PEOPLE. “He is going to do this privately and focus all his attention on being the best person and performer possible. He is grateful for the support and love from his fans and looks forward to coming back stronger than ever before.”
“Only I can change my life,” CarterTweeted as news broke. “No one can do it for me.”
Aaron Carter.Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic/ Getty Images
In 2018, Carter opened up to PEOPLE about the “rock bottom” that led to his rehab stay.
“I definitely felt like I hit a rock bottom personally and emotionally,” he said. “I started getting really stressed out about things like my relationship or the expectations people had for me, and then I just stopped eating. That’s when I thought ‘This is a time for me to really go take some time and do some self-healing.'”
Carter was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the suddendeaths of his father and sister Leslie(“It was just one punch after the next,” he said) while in the treatment facility, and it’s “something that I’m still learning a lot about,” he said. “I find myself getting into those moments where randomly I just want to cry. It’s difficult, I’m not going to lie.”
After the stay, he said he felt a noticeable difference.
“It’samazing to see what happenedwhen I just took some time off for myself, looked around and found ways to appreciate life,” he said. “I’ve seen a huge change in myself and my attitude and my demeanor and my morale. It’s beautiful.”
Carter said at the time he was focusing on the positives in his life — includingLøVë, his first album in 15 years.
He also said he was getting better at tuning out the naysayers, many of whomaccused him of abusing hard drugswhile he was at his lowest weight of 115 lbs.
“I’ve never even touched any of those drugs,” he insisted. “It’s just not a part of who I am. People trying to paint this picture, it’s just really defaming. It hurts. They would never talk to me like that in person.”
RELATED VIDEO: Aaron Carter Opens Up About His Past Struggles: ‘I’ve Got a Lot to Prove’
On a September 2019 episode ofThe Doctors, Carter got candid again about hismental health struggles.
“The official diagnosis is that I suffer from multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety; I’m manic depressive,” he said. “I’m prescribed to Xanax, Seroquel, gabapentin, hydroxyzine, trazodone, omeprazole.”
Carter also held up a large bag of prescription drugs for host Dr. Travis Stork and co-host Dr. Judy Ho, giving viewers a scale of how many medications he has to take.
“This is my reality … hi,” he said. “I have nothing to hide.”
Although Carter was initially shocked that he tested positive for opiates — maintaining that he hadn’t used any since 2017 when he checked himself into rehab — he remembered that he had been prescribed hydrocodone when he recently had work done on his teeth.
“Oh no, no. I did. I got my teeth done, I got six crowns, so I had to take hydrocodone,” he recalled.
Aaron Carter.Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Carter also used his time on the show to urge his mother to get help for her drinking addiction. He shared that when he was last on the show two years ago, “the doctors saved [his] life” and he now “wants that for his mom.”
During part two of his appearance onThe Doctors, Carter shared for the very first time that he wasaddicted to huffing, and that his late sister Leslie was the one who introduced it to him.
“Started when I was about 16,” he said, noting that he “didn’t really touch it until I was about 23, right after I didDancing with the Stars. And I started going to Staples and Office Depot, and different places, buying it with cash, so it wouldn’t be reported on receipts or anything like that, so no one could trace me.”
“I was huffing because I was really f— stupid and sad but this is really no excuse,” he admitted. “I was huffing because I’m a drug addict.”
Carter went on to share that the last time he huffed was after he firstwent to rehabin 2017 — and that after he “relapsed immediately” hedrove backto seek additional treatment.
“That’s my truth,” he said. “I can say I’ve been through hell and back. And I’m here to stay.”
Aaron and Nick Carter.Michael Tran/FilmMagic
The same month as Carter’sDoctorsappearance, Nick tweeted that he and his sister Angel had filed a restraining order against Carter, claiming that he had threatened to kill Nick’s “pregnant wife and unborn child.”
“After careful consideration, my sister Angel and I regret that we were required to seek a restraining order against our brother Aaron today,” hewrote. “We were left with no choice, but to take every measure possible to protect ourselves and our family.”
Nick shared that he still loves Carter and hopes “he gets the proper treatment he needs before any harm comes to himself or anyone else.”
Carterreacted to the restraining orderon Twitter the same day, sharing, “So my brother just got a restraining order against me. And I was just served lol.”
“Take care. @NickCarter we’re done for life,” he continued. “I haven’t seen him in four years. And I don’t intend to … I am astounded at the accusations being made against me, and I do not wish harm to anyone, especially my family.”
He later returned to Twitter to also accuse Nick of being violent with several women and revealed that he had loaned Nick $100,000 “when he was almost broke and this is the thank you.”
In November 2019, a Los Angeles court extended the domestic violence restraining order Angel filed against Carter through 2020.
With the order, Carter was not allowed to come within 100 yards of Angel and her husband Corey Conrad, as well as their place of business and their home.
Angel had previously claimed in court documents that Carter had “threatened the lives” ofher, Conrad, and their daughter Harperduring a phone call. She said he allegedly told her, “I have people that would come and harm you.”
In January 2020, Carter wentInstagram officialwith Melanie Martin. At the time, he shared a photo of them together, which has since been deleted, with the caption: “She loves me she loves me not, she woke me up from napping but I’m not complaining 🦁.”
Aaron Carter and Melanie Martin.Melanie Martin/instagram
In June of that year, Carter announced that he and Martin were engaged, posting a photo of a sparkling ring on her left hand.
“Lövē wins ❤️😍💍,” he wrote onInstagram, adding the hashtags #iloveyou3000 #engaged #fiance and #ourlovestory.
Then, in February 2022, they called it quits once again.
“My relationship has come to a point where we have to part ways. Please respect my privacy at this time. Thank you,” Carter tweeted.
Days before he was found dead at his house in Lancaster, California, Carter was pulled over for suspicion of DUI on Tuesday, but officersfound that he wasn’t under the influenceafter conducting a field sobriety test, according to TMZ.
Despite his years of ups and downs, Carter never lost hope that he’d find stability.
“I want lots of kids, lots of happiness and laughter,” he told PEOPLE in 2018.
source: people.com
