Pop star Aaron Carter died on November 5th, 2022. He was 34 years old. Carter was found in his bathroom, but authorities gave no cause of death.
Aaron Carter was the younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, but he had his own successful career in the late 1990s and 2000s.
Carter battled mental health issues and a drug problem, and he was very open about it. He shared his struggles on a 2019 episode of The Doctors, where he said he suffered from multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety and manic depression. He also spoke about taking many prescription medications, Xanax being one of them.
This is not the first tragedy for the Carter family. Older sister, Leslie, died of a prescription drug overdose.
Aaron Carter had an on again/off again engagement to Melanie Martin and the couple shared an 11-month-old son, Prince. Martin posted about the news, "My baby I can't breathe".
But years earlier, Aaron's first love was Hilary Duff.
8 Who Was Aaron Carter?
Aaron Carter opened up for his brother Nick and the Backstreet Boys when he was only nine years old.
His first single was a cover of The Jets hit, "Crush on You". Soon after, he released his first album, Aaron Carter in 1998. Carter's second album, Aaron's Party (Come and Get it) was released in 2000, and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Charts. He became a teen idol and young girls screamed for him.
From there, Aaron's star took off. He guest starred on TV series, such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Lizzy McGuire and 7th Heaven. He starred on Broadway and released more albums.
Aaron and his Carter siblings starred in a reality show on E!, House of Carters. He appeared on Dancing With the Stars, where he came in fifth.
He continued to work through the years, but was also in and out of rehab.
7 What Is Lizzie McGuire?
Lizzie McGuire premiered on Disney Channel in 2001. Hilary Duff starred as the title character, and launched her young career. The series follows Lizzie and her friends and family as she navigates her teen years. The show also included an animated version of Lizzie who expressed her thoughts to the camera.
Lizzie McGuire became the most successful show on Disney Channel and The Lizzie McGuire Movie was based on the series.
The show ended after two seasons due to contract negotiations between Duff and Disney.
6 Aaron Carter And Hilary Duff's Relationship
Aaron Carter and Hilary Duff began dating in 2000, when they were both 13 years old. Carter guest-starred on Lizzie McGuire and sang his hit, "I Want Candy," on the show. They also shared an on-camera kiss. The media went crazy, and they became a young power couple of the early 2000s.
The couple dated on and off for three years and broke up in 2003.
5 Was Aaron Carter The Cause Of The Feud Between Hilary Duff And Lindsay Lohan?
In the early 2000s, Hilary Duff, Aaron Carter and Lindsay Lohan were all at the height of their young careers. And the height of drama.
After dating Hilary Duff for two years, Aaron Carter also began to date Lindsay Lohan. At the same time. Carter told CNBC in 20005, "I was dating [Hilary] for like a year and a half, and then I just got a little bored so I went and I started getting to know Lindsay."
Duff and Carter eventually broke up, but the feud between the girls only heated up. They repeatedly purposely showed up at each other's movie premiers, and Lohan reportedly trash talked Duff.
Years later, the feud was finally put to rest, “We are both adults, and whatever happened, happened when we were young,” Hilary told People at the time. “It’s over.”
4 Hilary Duff's Life Now
Hilary Duff has continued a successful career since the end of Lizzie McGuire. She starred in multiple mainstream movies. She then spent six years as Kelsey Peters in the TV Land series, Younger. She now produces and stars in How I Met Your Father. She is also a successful writer, singer, and entrepreneur.
Duff definitely moved on after Aaron Carter. She dated Joel Madden for a while but in 2010 she married NHL player, Mike Comrie. The couple had a son but then divorced. She later married singer-songwriter Matthew Koma. They have two daughters together.
She is a very successful working mom.
3 Was Aaron Carter Still In Love With Hilary Duff?
Years after their breakup, Aaron Carter made numerous comments about his ex, Hilary Duff. He often referred to her as the "love of his life".
In 2014, he retweeted a picture of Hilary and wrote, “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to better myself to get back to her. I don’t care what ANY of you think.”
Also in 2014, Carter told Entertainment Tonight that he was “never going to give up on Hilary, ever.”
When asked, Hilary Duff told Buzzfeed, “I keep seeing that, that he keeps doing that. I don’t know how I feel. I mean, that was so long ago, and obviously I’m still married, and I have a baby and we kind of just. … Yeah, don’t know each other … so … yeah.”
2 What Was Aaron Carter Up To?
Aaron Carter's career never hit the heights it went to as a teenager. His world became troubled. He had rifts with family members, including brother Nick, DUIs, and stints in rehab.
He went on the adult website, CamSoda, and told Page Six in 2020, “I’m going to hop on the piano and then do some other kinky stuff like hot wax and you know, just some stuff like that, you just have to sign up to see it.”
In 2017, he came out as bisexual and received tons of support from fans. He has had a tumultuous relationship with Melanie Martin since early 2020.
1 Hilary Duff On Aaron Carter's Death
Hilary Duff and Aaron Carter did not keep in touch. But they did share a special time in their lives.
She shared a tribute to her teenage boyfriend on November 5th. “For Aaron — I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in-front of the whole world,” Duff, 35, wrote via Instagram on Saturday night. “You had a charm that was absolutely effervescent … boy did my teenage self love you deeply. Sending love to your family at this time. Rest easy ♥️.”
