Nick Carter was visibly overwhelmed with emotion while the Backstreet Boys paid tribute to his late brother, Aaron Carter.
On Saturday, November 5, the 42-year-old’s younger sibling died at the age of 34 after being reportedly found in a bathtub at his home in California.
Less than 48 hours after the news broke, Nick and his bandmates performed at the O2 arena in London, as part of their DNA World Tour. During the show, they took a moment to pay tribute to the ‘I’m All About You’ singer.
During a performance of ‘No Place’, a montage of Carter was shown on the venue’s screens while vocalist Kevin Richardson spoke with the crowd and said that the song was “very special to us because [it] is about family”.
You can check out the emotional moment below:
“Everybody in here, we all grew up together,” 51-year-old Richardson said, while bandmate Nick could be seen breaking down in tears next to him.
“We’ve been through highs and lows and ups and downs. We thank you for being with the Backstreet family for 29 years, for all the love,” he expressed.
“Tonight we’ve got a little bit of heavy hearts. Because we lost one of our family members yesterday. We just wanted to find a moment in our show to recognize him,” Richardson continued.
“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,” he added.
As the group gathered themselves after embracing Carter, Howie Dorough added: “We’d like to dedicate this song to our little brother, Aaron Carter. May he rest in heaven,” before launching into another song.
Before the group’s concert on Sunday (November 6) night, the ‘I Want It That Way’ singer shared a moving message to his late brother on his Instagram page.
“My heart is broken. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded,” he wrote, alongside a series of photographs of himself and his younger sibling.
“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,” he continued.
“Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss. But the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here.”
“I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know. I love you Chizz. Now you can finally have the peace you could never find here on earth….I love you, baby brother,” he concluded.
Aaron Carter and Nick Carter in 2005. Credit: Sipa US / Alamy
The ‘I Want Candy’ singer’s death sparked many tributes from those in the music industry, such as Hilary Duff, who briefly dated Carter as a teen. She posted a statement on Instagram sending love to his family.
“For Aaron – I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and you had to struggle in-front of the whole world,” Duff wrote. “You had a charm that was absolutely effervescent … boy did my teenage self love you deeply.”
The teen idol’s cause of death has not been revealed and the police have said their investigation is continuing.
Our thoughts are with Aaron Carter’s family, friends, and fans at this time.