Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter has paid an emotional tribute to his younger brother, who died at the age of 34 on November 5.
The singer was reportedly found unresponsive in his bath at his Los Angeles home, according to Variety.
Nick Carter is currently on the last leg of the Backstreet Boys’ European tour, as the band took to the stage on Sunday night at London’s O2 arena.
Sharing a statement on Instagram, Carter posted several photos of the brothers together, writing, “My heart is broken”.
“Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. 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. 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 get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth ... I love you baby brother.”
It’s the second tragedy to hit the Carter family, as Nick also lost his younger sister Leslie to a drug overdose in 2012.
Aaron’s death comes 10 years after the siblings lost their sister when she was just 25 years old. Leslie also struggled with drug dependency as her brothers battled substance abuse.
Aaron told Oprah in 2016 that he and Leslie had discussed sending her to rehab in the weeks before her death and said it was something his sister wanted to do.
“I had just hit my bonus. I got $10,000 the week before Leslie died, and I actually had reached out to her two weeks before that and said, ‘I’m going to get you the money to go to rehab’,” Aaron said during an appearance on the Oprah: Where Are They Now? special.
“Out of all the experiences and all the things that happened with my sister’s passing, I just learnt that life means so much to me.
“[It’s] more than just money and fame.”
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