Nick Carter

Carter was born in Jamestown, New York, where his parents, Jane Eleonora Schneck (née Spaulding, previously Carter) and Robert Carter (d. 2017), owned a bar called the Yankee Rebel in Westfield, New York. His ancestry is primarily North and West European, Scandinavian and Italian. Several years later, when Carter was four, the family moved to Ruskin, Florida, near Tampa, and managed the Garden Villa Retirement Home, where they added to the family. Carter's siblings include Leslie Carter (1986–2012), Aaron Carter (1987–2022), Angel Carter (born 1987), and Bobbie Jean Carter (1982–2023). He stated in the Fall 1999 issue of the teen magazine J-14 that "...I have lots of siblings. My dad, who's an only child, got all the attention [from his parents when he was a kid], but he had to make friends. I could make friends, but I always knew I had someone to play with and hang out with." ==Career==

Growing up, Carter began his acting and singing career at a young age when his mother heard him outside and enrolled him in voice lessons with a voice teacher named Marianne Prinkey. She later got him dance lessons in ballet, tap, and hip hop at Karl and DiMarco's School of Theatre and Dance when he was 10. Carter performed in several commercials, talent shows, and the Florida State Fair. He auditioned for several acting roles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and performed around Tampa Bay, Florida. According to Carter, he played the lead role in the fourth-grade production of Phantom of the Opera at Miles Elementary School. He also did an educational video called Reach for a Book, a show called The Klub and performed at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home games for two years. He also made a brief appearance in the 1990 Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands as a child playing on a Slip 'N Slide. He stated, "It would be going too far to say I was actually in Edward Scissorhands because I was so far in the background that you can't tell it's me. It would be better to say I was on the set of the film... I was in the scene when Edward looks out of a window to the neighborhood. For a split second, he sees some kids playing - one of them was me. I was sliding on a yellow piece of plastic we used to call a Slip n' Slide. They were long flat sheets with water coming out of holes and were popular with kids at the time. I had to slide on one in the background of a shot. It was great fun being on the set but it was really cold and they made us do it a lot of times". One of his dance teachers, Sandy, placed him in his first group, Nick and the Angels. Between 1989 and 1993, Carter recorded various popular songs, including "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Uptown Girl" and a few original songs that he would perform at events. These recordings appeared on an unofficial release called Before the Backstreet Boys 1989–1993 by Dynamic Discs, Inc., released in October 2002. It was revealed that through several auditions, Carter met AJ McLean and Howie Dorough and they became friends. At age 12, he put in a winning performance on the 1992 New Original Amateur Hour. Carter has stated that he endured a difficult childhood in a turbulent, high-conflict home. He has added that he was bullied and beaten up during junior high school. Due to the unpleasant experiences he had in school, he left school and was homeschooled instead. Backstreet Boys At 12 years old, Carter auditioned for Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club and the Backstreet Boys. He was asked to join the group and was given the choice of either joining The Mickey Mouse Club with a $50,000 contract or this new music group. Carter chose to join the group rather than the Mickey Mouse Club. After he joined the group, he had his own personal tutor on tour with him. In 2013 or 2014, Carter received his GED as shown on I Heart Nick Carter. By October 14, 2022, their first-holiday album A Very Backstreet Christmas was released. Solo career In 2002, when the Backstreet Boys expressed a strong desire to leave their management company, The Firm, Carter was the first member of the group to choose to remain with them, managing his solo career and working on a solo album. Around then, Carter began writing songs and recording during his downtime, when Jive asked him to create a solo album. As the group began recording their new album without him, he started working on his first solo album. In September 2002, Carter released the first single from his solo album, "Help Me" which did well on radio countdowns landing at #1 on various stations including New York City's Z100 and achieved considerable worldwide success while the other single, "I Got You" was a minor hit in Europe. On October 29, 2002, his first solo album Now Or Never was released and sold over 500,000 copies in the first week. It reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200 charts and was certified gold, both in the United States and Canada. The album also charted in many countries. He also launched a worldwide tour in support of the album. He was No. 9 of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2000 and was voted by readers of the teen magazine Cosmogirls "Sexiest Man in the World" in their October 2002 issue, beating out such competition as actor Brad Pitt and rival pop star Justin Timberlake for the title, launching a media-hyped "rivalry" between Timberlake and Carter, culminating in an amicable 2009 meeting off-camera on the set of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where Carter defeated Timberlake in an arm-wrestling match. He was also featured on the cover of the magazine. Carter went on tour in early 2003, where he performed at smaller venues, such as clubs, which were much smaller than the ones he had been used to with the Backstreet Boys. That same year, Carter started working on his second solo album, which was put on hold when the Backstreet Boys returned to the studio to record a new album in 2004. One of the tracks from the earlier recording sessions was used as the theme song to the television series House of Carters in 2006. "Let It Go" was written by Carter, Matthew Gerrard, and Bridget Louise Benenate. It would be eight years before Carter finally focused on another solo album. Carter began working on the album in 2008, but most of the recording for his second solo album, "I'm Taking Off," took place during downtime between Backstreet Boys touring in 2010. "I'm Taking Off" was first released in Japan on February 2, 2011, and later released in the U.S. on May 24, 2011, exclusively on iTunes. The album was later released in other countries on different dates. It was Carter's first solo album without the help of a major label. He co-wrote every song released except for a bonus track in Japan. In Germany, the album was released by Glor, Canada 305 Records, and in Japan, AMEX. Carter recorded a duet with pop singer Jennifer Paige called "Beautiful Lie" in 2009. In 2010, Carter started recording new songs for his second solo album, working with Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk, Toby Gad, Josh Hoge, and Claude Kelly, among many others. Carter's new album titled ''I'm Taking Off'' was released on February 2, 2011, in Japan, in Germany on June 3, 2011, and in the USA via iTunes on May 24. As of June 2011, Carter's second solo album reached No. 8 in Japan, selling over 20,000 copies. The tour to support the album ran from September to November 2014. They announced their album and tour on April 30 on "Good Morning America." The self-titled album was released on September 2, 2014. Fans were able to get a taste of the album when they pre-ordered it by receiving a download of the song "Just the Two of Us." The first single, "One More Time," was released on July 15, 2014. The album features a few tracks written by Carter and Jordan. In 2015, Carter announced he would be working on a third solo album for release later that year. The album was called All American and was released digitally on November 25 via iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. The CD release was delayed until February 2016 and was released in Japan that same month. He worked with Dan Muckala, Natasha Bedingfield, and others for most of the album. This album would see Carter returning to a pop/rock sound, similar to "Now or Never". Some tracks on the album also evoke the sound of the 1950s and 1960s. The first single from his new album, entitled "I Will Wait", was released on Vevo on October 1, 2015, and is an acoustic ballad. The new CD All American, was released on November 25, 2015. In support of the album, Carter toured in February and March 2016. Canadian pop/rock singer Avril Lavigne is also featured on Carter's album. She sings with him in the song "Get Over Me." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter announced that he would be releasing new solo projects. Two months after Aaron's death, Carter honored his brother with a new single, "Hurts To Love You," and the music video featured images of Aaron, including photos and home movies. Some of the lyrics to the song include, "It hurts to love you but I love you still/ Miss you with all my heart, you know I always will." On August 18, Carter released a new single, Superman, dedicating it to his family after everything they had been through with Aaron's death as well as how his sister Angel got involved with the foundation On Our Sleeves. This foundation works to help children facing mental and emotional health struggles. In conjunction with On Our Sleeves, Nick held an event honoring Aaron at a benefit concert in January. In July 2023, Carter announced he would embark on his first solo tour in almost a decade. The Who I Am World Tour was a more personal show for fans to discover Carter's story of his many early musical influences before joining the Backstreet Boys. It would feature Carter performing music from his solo albums, Backstreet Boys songs, & covers of songs from the 1980s. The tour kicked off October 4, 2023 in Lexington, KY for an initial 14-city run across North America. It later expanded with Carter traveling to Latin America, Europe, Asia, and a second leg of North America. Carter released two new singles, Made for Us and Never Break My Heart (Not Again) in 2024. On July 17, Carter released a single from his album Searchlight. Emmy win In August 2023, Carter offered his vocal talents for the rendition of "Happy Xmas," a song featuring patients from the Cure 4 The Kids Foundation, celebrities, and well-known recording artists such as Kyle Khou for the Christmas 4 The Kids digital album, released in 2023 for the holiday season. All proceeds from sales and streaming of the 22 songs continue to benefit the foundation. As a result, the song "''Happy Xmas (Cancer's Over)''" earned Carter and Mitch Koulouris their first-ever Pacific Southwest Emmy Award win in June 2024. The song was recognized with the 2024 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Musical Composition & Arrangement" by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Pacific Southwest Chapter. Acting career Carter also did some acting, appearing on various TV shows, including the NBC show American Dreams in 2002 and ABC's 8 Simple Rules in 2003. In October 2004, he even starred as a High School football player, Brody, in the ABC Family Halloween special, The Hollow, opposite Kevin Zegers. In 2007, Carter filmed the independent movie Kill Speed with Brandon Quinn, Andrew Keegan, Natalia Cigliuti, Greg Grunberg, and Reno Wilson, where he played a character named Foreman. The movie was originally scheduled for release in 2008, but due to issues with the release (some say with distribution), it would be years before it was eventually released on DVD. In the US, it was released on June 12, 2012. While in the UK, its release was in 2010, along with some other countries. On May 8, 2012, he made a guest appearance on CW's 90210 and played himself. Carter made his big-screen debut in 2013, appearing in the comedy This Is the End along with the rest of the Backstreet Boys. In July 2013, Carter launched a campaign on Indiegogo.com, a crowdfunding site, to raise money for his movie "Evil Blessings." The goal was to raise $85,000. Instead, the campaign raised $156,214. Carter has said he'll use his money and the money raised to fund the movie. In return for the donations, multiple perks were available depending on the amount donated. They included chats with Carter on Skype, adding the donor's name to the movie credits or on the website, movie merchandise (such as t-shirts, posters, DVDs, etc.), acting roles, premiere tickets, BSB concerts, an online concert, and more. Carter wrote the screenplay for the film. Due to a few setbacks, the film was delayed and put on hold. In July 2013, the director of the movie died. The film was initially scheduled to start filming in June 2014, but the Backstreet Boys' In a World Like This Tour 's success delayed filming and pushed it back to January 2015. That gave Carter some more time to rework the screenplay. In October 2014, Carter announced that this film would be postponed due to the director's death. Instead, he'll film a new movie called "Dead West" in January 2015. The money donated to "Evil Blessings" will be used for the production of this film. Carter hired the production company, The Asylum (the company that produced "Sharknado"), to help. In July 2015, Carter announced that the movie was renamed "Dead 7" to give it a more global appeal. "Dead 7" includes various members of different boy bands. Reality TV career In 2006, Carter and his siblings starred in their reality television show, House of Carters, which has been on the air since May 2006 and premiered on October 2, 2006, on E!. The series features all five Carter siblings reuniting to live in the same house in Los Angeles, as they attempt to reconnect as a family and get their lives together, while also exploring in-depth moments of their ups and downs. Their father, Robert Carter, and stepmother, Ginger R. Elrod, also appeared on the show. The series lasted one season, and eight episodes were aired. In 2014, Carter returned to reality TV, and he and his wife (then fiancée at the time), Lauren Kitt, starred in their VH1 reality show, I Heart Nick Carter, which centered around the planning of their April 2014 wedding and premiered on September 10, 2014, on VH1. The show only had eight episodes. It documented Carter's life as he prepared for his wedding. This included Carter trying to set the wedding date between the Backstreet Boys' touring and footage of Carter working. Recording a new album with New Kids on the Block member Jordan Knight, various events such as a book signing, charity event, touring with Backstreet Boys in Europe (other group members also appeared on the show), his bachelor party, and much more. The wedding aired in a one-hour season finale. Carter announced on Twitter that VH1 did not renew the show for a second season. On August 26, 2015, it was revealed that Carter would be taking part in the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars which began on September 14, 2015. He was paired with professional dancer Sharna Burgess. Carter and Burgess made the finals of the show and came in second place, behind Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough. He performed "I Will Wait" off his All American album live at the finale. In June 2017, Carter appeared alongside Emma Bunton and Timbaland as a judge on a new singing competition show called Boy Band. In 2020, Carter competed as the "Crocodile" on the fourth season of The Masked Singer, finishing in third place. While the group was touring in Canada, Carter appeared on Chanteurs Masques, the Canadian version of the Masked Singer, this time as a Sphynx cat for one episode. He also performed a stellar rendition of Heart's “Alone” and ended the show with a performance of “I Want It That Way.” Nick's appearance on the show broke viewership records, drawing in over 2 million viewers. Power boat racing In 2002, Carter got into powerboat racing and started his own team, Nick Carter Racing, which won the National Championship in its first year. ==Charity work==

Carter raised money for the On Our Sleeves organization with his sister Angel, following their brother Aaron's death in 2022. The organization supports mental health and youth in crisis. ==Personal life==

According to Extra, Carter described how hard it is for him to go onstage since his brother Aaron's November 2022 death. Carter honored Aaron with a new single, "Hurts to Love You". The music video featured images of Aaron via photos and home movies. In 2008, Carter met Lauren Michelle Kitt, a fitness influencer, YouTuber, WBFF competitor, and actress, through his sister while attending a gathering at his house in California. After dating for five years, Carter proposed to her and the couple married in Santa Barbara, California in 2014. Their wedding was featured in an issue of In Touch Weekly and was filmed for Carter's reality show, I Heart Nick Carter. They have three children: a son born in 2016 and two daughters born in 2019 and 2021. The Carter family resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Carter told People magazine that although he loves performing on tour, he had to miss his daughter's third birthday to go to Europe. The couple had also suffered multiple miscarriages. ==Legal issues==

On January 2, 2002, Carter was arrested at Pop City nightclub in Tampa, Florida, and charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting/opposing a law enforcement officer without violence. Charges were later dismissed upon completion of community service. In 2003 or 2004, Carter got his first DUI after refusing to comply with the police. On March 5, 2005, Carter was arrested in Huntington Beach, California, and charged with one count of driving under the influence and one count of driving with a blood alcohol level above 0.08, the legal limit. Carter pled guilty to the charges and was fined $1,200, placed on three years of informal probation, had his driving privileges restricted for 90 days and was required to undergo a three-month alcohol education program. On January 13, 2016, Carter was arrested in Key West, Florida after he was refused service at a bar due to "high levels of intoxication". After getting into a physical altercation with the bar's bouncers, Carter was asked to leave by management and was charged with misdemeanor battery. Carter has subsequently acknowledged ongoing struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. He revealed that he started drinking when he was just two years old and again at nine. He says that he became sober after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and realized that he could die if he did not make major lifestyle changes. The singer credits fellow Backstreet Boys member Kevin Richardson for helping him turn his life around by giving him Norman Vincent Peale's book Why Some Positive Thinkers Get Powerful Results. After reading that book he started a healthier lifestyle, saying "Working out definitely helped my self-esteem, and it helped to kind of push it all aside. I just started replacing drinking and the parties... with healthier things like sports, video games." Carter also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on February 19, 2009, to discuss his past with drug and alcohol addictions. In December 2011, Carter again appeared on TV to talk about his struggle with drugs and alcohol, this time on The Dr. Phil Show's "Second Chances" special. This segment led to his first book deal with Bird Street Books. In 2013, he published the memoir titled Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It. In September 2019, Carter was granted a temporary restraining order against his younger brother Aaron after alleging that Aaron threatened to kill his then-pregnant wife. On November 20, the judge made the decision the day after one of Carter's sisters was granted a domestic violence restraining order against Aaron, and Carter's brother-in-law was granted a harassment restraining order until November 2020, also against Aaron. On February 18, 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency company SafeMoon that alleged the company is a pump and dump scheme, Carter was named a defendant along with YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul, rappers Soulja Boy and Lil Yachty, and social media personality Ben Phillips for promoting the SafeMoon token on their social media accounts with misleading information. On the same day, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media. Sexual assault allegations 2006 incident In October 2017, Radar Online reported on a March 2006 incident involving a 20-year-old fan at a house party. Information was obtained from an incident report filed by police in West Allis, Wisconsin. The alleged victim, whose name was not disclosed, stated that after drinking with Carter and his friend Rob Kalouch, she was digitally penetrated by Carter and was forced to perform oral sex on both men. She stated that she refused them, telling them that she had a boyfriend and was "saving herself for marriage". The alleged victim stated that the two attempted to have intercourse with her later, as she pretended to be asleep. The report indicated that afterward, she was brought to the hospital and interviewed by police. The alleged rape occurred in 2003, according to paperwork filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Schuman said Carter provided her with alcohol and slipped a roofie into the alcohol before raping her. Schuman stated that she was emboldened to disclose the incident after observing similarities to the 2006 accusation. Carter denied Schuman's allegation. In February 2018, it was reported that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office would not pursue charges against Carter in the case because the statute of limitations had expired. Schuman later sued Carter over the allegation in April 2023. In August 2024, it was revealed that Carter had countersued Schuman for $2.5 million, accusing her of defamation. In court documents, Carter said Schuman's lawsuit alone cost him "millions". Shannon Ruth accusation On December 8, 2022, Shannon Ruth filed a lawsuit against Carter, alleging that he had raped her on board the Backstreet Boys' tour bus in 2001 when she was a 17-year-old fan. Carter vehemently denied the allegation, stating that the lawsuit was a "press stunt" by Ruth's lawyers. Following the lawsuit, ABC, Hulu, and Disney+ canceled A Very Backstreet Holiday, a television holiday special featuring the Backstreet Boys scheduled to air the following week on December 14, 2022. Other cancellations included the Backstreet Boys' $350,000 holiday promotion for MeUndies; endorsement deals with Tonies, The Children's Place, Vrbo, and Roblox; their Jingle Ball performance on The CW; appearances on GMA, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and La semaine des 4 Julie; and an album signing at the Edge NYC. In response, fans boycotted ABC and The Kelly Clarkson Show for what they called "cancel culture". Carter is alleged to have raped the victim on a tour bus and his yacht. Carter allegedly provided the minor with drugs and alcohol and infected her with HPV. The minor reported these incidents to her mother, who in turn reported them to the police; however, no charges were filed against Carter at the time. The lawsuit stated that Carter had "instructed the victim to keep his sexual abuse of her a secret". April 2025 accusation A woman named Laura Penly sued Carter in 2025 for allegedly raping her in 2005. Penly accused Carter of infecting her with STDs, including the human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV infection allegedly led to cervical cancer. Penly said she and Carter had consensual sex three times between December 2004 and February 2005. However, in her last encounter with Carter, she claimed he refused to wear a condom and that she did not consent to unprotected sex. Fallen Idols Carter and his late brother, Aaron, are the subjects of a docuseries on ID and Max called Fallen Idols, which premiered over two nights on May 27 and 28, 2024. The series dives into the sexual assault allegations against the Backstreet Boys singer, as well as his brother's mental health struggles and substance abuse issues that led to his death. The docuseries included interviews with family members, close friends, industry professionals, and Nick's accusers—Melissa Schuman, Ashley Repp, and Shannon Ruth—as well as a member of the Carter family, Aaron's former fiancée Melanie Martin, and Kaya Jones (who claimed to be Nick's ex-girlfriend in 2004) to paint a picture of how the brothers' tumultuous upbringing contributed to their ups and downs. A note at the end of the special stated that Carter has "denied the allegations and questions his accusers' credibility". In a statement to Us Weekly, Carter's attorney, Dale Hayes Jr., addressed the claims made in Fallen Idols, saying, "These are exactly the same outrageous claims that led us to sue this gang of conspirators. Those cases are working their way through the legal system now, and based on both the initial court rulings and the overwhelming evidence, we have every belief that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these falsehoods." Other developments Carter attributes his development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the allegations made against him, and has since filed defamation claims against all three accusers. In March 2023, Las Vegas judge Nancy Allf ruled that Carter was allowed to countersue Ruth for libel. In August 2023, a Las Vegas judge ruled that Carter presented sufficient evidence to countersue Schuman for defamation. Carter later countersued all three accusers. The countersuits encompass terminated endorsement deals, mental anguish, legal fees, and other damages. However, Carter has since filed an appeal against Repp and filed court docs demanding Repp's claims be thrown out January 7. A trial date was set for Carter's countersuit against Schuman in December, but was rescheduled to May 10 2027 while Repp and Ruth's cases will be heard together in Nevada in March 2026 and penly's case is scheduled for October 12 2026. One month after the Fallen Idols docuseries premiere, another woman contacted Schuman privately about allegedly being sexually assaulted by Carter, stating her identity and enough "specific details" to appear "credible". Schuman's lawyer told Rolling Stone that the accuser, who alleges she was assaulted sometime after 2003, had offered to give testimony in support of Schuman's litigation. ==Discography==

;Solo albums • Now or Never (2002) • ''I'm Taking Off'' (2011) • All American (2015) • Love Life Tragedy (2025) ; Collaborative albums • Nick & Knight (2014) (with Jordan Knight) Singles As main artist ==Filmography==