The Carter Family: All About Nick and Aaron Carter’s Parents and Siblings

Nick Carter’s family has faced many ups and downs together. 

The singer first stepped into the spotlight in 1993 when he made his debut with the Backstreet Boys at just 13 years old. As the boy band’s popularity grew, so did the attention surrounding Nick and his family. 

Born to parents Jane and Robert ‘Bob’ Carter, the Backstreet Boys singer has four younger siblings (Leslie Carter, Aaron Carter, Angel Carter and Bobbie Jean Carter), three of whom are deceased.

Through the years, some of his siblings followed in his footsteps with their own music careers, notably his younger brother Aaron with his album Aaron’s Party (Come Get It) in 2000. The siblings also shared the screen together in the mid-2000s with House of Carters, which documented their at-times contentious relationships with one another.  

As Investigation Discovery details the Carter family’s tumultuous time in the spotlight with Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, here’s everything to know about the Carter family. 

Carter Family Woes: The Music Clan’s Troubled History

Jane and Robert ‘Bob’ Carter 

Bob and Jane Carter.

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Jane and Bob Carter married in May 1979 and welcomed five children together during their relationship. They spent the early years of their marriage living in New York, where they owned a bar called the Yankee Rebel in Westfield, before eventually moving to Florida, where their children primarily grew up. 

Over the years, the Carter siblings have talked about their complicated relationship with their parents. Jane and Bob officially divorced in 2004; around that same time, Aaron accused his mother, who was also his manager at the time, of stealing $100,000 from him, and considered filing for legal emancipation. (She denied the charge and they settled the dispute a month later.) 

Jane made headlines later that year when she was arrested and charged with battery for beating up Bob’s girlfriend (and future wife) Ginger Elrod. (Elrod did not pursue the charges, but Bob told The Miami Herald “restraining orders are in place.”)

In May 2017, Nick revealed on X that his father Bob died in Florida at age 65. “I am heartbroken to share the news that our father, Robert, passed away last night,” he wrote at the time. “While we learn more about the cause of death, and begin the grieving process, we ask that our privacy be respected at this difficult time.” 

Aaron also reacted to the news online, writing, “My heart is Completely shattered I’m in shock and I loved my dad so much. #RIP daddy I Love You.” 

Nick Carter

Nick Carter.

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Born on Jan. 28, 1980, in Jamestown, N.Y., Nick is the eldest of the Carter siblings. When he was four, the family moved to Ruskin, Fla., where the rest of his siblings were born and raised. After getting involved with singing and dancing at a young age, Carter became a member of the Backstreet Boys in the early ‘90s. 

As the boy band rose to fame, Nick dealt with a turbulent home life. In his 2013 memoir Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It, Nick explained that his relationship with his family was “toxic.” During an interview with Dr. Phil, he expanded on his rocky home life, noting that things with his family members were always “up and down” throughout his childhood.   

He specifically noted that as his success in the music industry made him the financial provider for his family, he became like a father “in a lot of ways.” “I love my family. But there comes a point when you really have to ask yourself if you are helping or hurting them,” he added. 

Aside from his music career, Nick has dealt with various legal issues in recent years. Notably, he has faced accusations of sexual assault from three women, who are set to appear in the upcoming ID doc, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter. (Nick has filed a countersuit and through a lawyer has called the allegations “false.”)

In addition to having a strained relationship with his parents, Nick also had a difficult relationship with his younger brother Aaron, who made many appearances with the Backstreet Boys as he was starting out his music career. In September 2019, Nick revealed that he and his sister Angel had filed a restraining order against their brother, Aaron, claiming that he had threatened to kill Nick’s “pregnant wife and unborn child,” referencing his wife Lauren Kitt Carter. 

Aaron later responded on X, saying that he and Nick were “done for life,” noting that he hadn’t seen him in four years and didn’t “intend to.” 

On the personal front, Nick is a proud father of three, including son Odin, and daughters Saoirse and Pearl, who he regularly posts about on social media, in addition to family photos with his wife.

Meet the Real-Life Loves of the Backstreet Boys

Aaron Carter 

Aaron Carter.

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Aaron was born on Dec. 7, 1987, alongside his twin sister Angel. Like his older brother, he began performing at a very young age and eventually released his self-titled debut album in 1997 when he was nine. He gained widespread attention for his second album Aaron’s Party (Come Get It) which solidified him as a teen pop star in the early 2000s, with appearances on Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire and Nickelodeon’s All That. 

However, in the late 2000s, Carter faced several legal issues. In 2008, he was arrested for marijuana possession and a few years later in 2011, he entered rehab for “emotional and spiritual issues he was dealing with,” his manager Johnny Wright said at the time. 

Carter’s legal woes continued in the early 2010s as the Carter family dealt with various tragedies, including the deaths of Leslie and Bob. In 2013, Carter filed for bankruptcy and in 2017, he was arrested for an alleged DUI and drug possession. 

That same year, he entered rehab again and later opened up about his mental health struggles during an appearance on The Doctors, noting that his official diagnosis was “multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia and acute anxiety,” adding that he was “manic depressive.” 

Amid his personal struggles, Aaron also had an on-and-off-again relationship with Melanie Martin, to whom he was engaged. They went Instagram official January 2020 and dated on and off again in the years that followed before officially ending things in February 2022. During the course of their relationship, they also welcomed a child together, a son named Prince born in November 2021. 

In November 2022, Aaron was found dead in his bathtub at his Lancaster, Calif., home. His cause of death was later attributed to drowning after inhaling difluoroethane and taking alprazolam, the generic form of brand-name Xanax, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. 

After news of his death became public, Nick was one of the first to share a statement. “My heart has been broken today,” he wrote on Instagram. “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.”

Nick 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 get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth….God, please take care of my baby brother.”

Aaron’s twin sister Angel also issued a statement via social media, writing, “To my twin… I loved you beyond measure. You will be missed dearly. My funny, sweet Aaron, I have so many memories of you … and I promise to cherish them. I know you’re at peace now. I will carry you with me until the day I die and get to see you again. 💔.”

Aaron Carter’s Life in Photos

Bobbie Jean Carter

Bobbie Jean Carter.

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Bobbie Jean is the second-eldest Carter sibling, born on Jan. 12, 1982. Bobbie Jean wasn’t in the spotlight as much as her siblings, though she did appear on the Carter family’s reality show House of Carters in 2006. 

Like her siblings, she dealt with various legal woes. In June 2023, she was arrested and charged with one count of retail theft and possession of fentanyl after reportedly trying to steal stickers and markers from a Hobby Lobby. 

Bobbie Jean was then placed in custody. On her way to be processed at the county jail, she reportedly threatened to hurt herself, leading the staff to be notified and Bobbie Jean to be admitted under suicide watch. PEOPLE later reported that she was held in prison from late September to early November. 

On Dec. 23, 2023, Bobbie Jean was found unresponsive on her bathroom floor and was rushed to Tampa’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in cardiac arrest. She was later pronounced dead at age 41. According to an initial case summary report released by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Department and obtained by PEOPLE, her cause of death was listed as “intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine.” Her death was ruled accidental. 

Following her death, Nick reacted to the news with an emotional statement on Instagram. “It may take a lifetime to fully process the loss my family has endured over the years — most recently, with the sudden passing of our sister Bobbie Jean,” he wrote. “I am completely heartbroken.”

Bobbie Jean’s mother also reacted to the news telling TMZ, “I am in shock from learning of the sudden death of my daughter, Bobbie Jean, and I will need time to process the terrible reality of this happening for the third time,” referring to the deaths of Bobbie Jean, Aaron and Leslie. 

Leslie Carter 

Leslie Carter.

Kristy Leibowitz/Getty 

Leslie was born third, on June 6, 1986. Like brothers Nick and Aaron, Leslie experimented with music, signing a record deal with DreamWorks Records in 1999. Her single “Like Wow!” appeared on the Shrek soundtrack and her debut album of the same name was set to release in 2001, however, DreamWorks later canceled the release. 

In late 2006, Leslie formed the band The Other Half, which split in 2009. During that time, Leslie got married to Mike Ashton in September 2008 and they eventually moved to Toronto, Ontario, where she gave birth to a daughter in 2011. 

Throughout her career, she dealt with depression and struggled with the family’s fame. “She was always happy for her brothers, don’t get me wrong,” a source previously told PEOPLE. “But it was tough for her.” 

In February 2012, Leslie died at age 25 of an apparent overdose of prescription medication. Aaron later revealed that he had offered to pay for her substance abuse treatment just weeks before her death. “I wasn’t really making that much money. Fortunately, 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,'” he previously told Oprah Winfrey. “She wanted it.”

Nick did not attend Leslie’s funeral, telling E! News. “I wanted to be at my sister’s funeral, but my family has always had a complicated dynamic.”

Angel Carter 

Angel Carter.

Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage

Angel is the twin sister of Aaron, born on Dec. 7, 1987. Though she appeared on the 2006 series House of Carters, she isn’t in the entertainment industry like her siblings. 

Following the deaths of Aaron, Leslie and Bobbie Jean, Angel has spoken candidly about mental health awareness and is an ambassador for the Kids Mental Health Foundation. 

“I want Aaron’s legacy to be more than the last few years of his life,” Angel told E! News of her twin brother’s death. “Aaron did have a platform and a love for his fans. And now I would like to see the legacy of Aaron change into something positive, which is to continue to raise awareness, to help children, to save lives.”

She added that after Aaron died, “a fire lit inside of me to want to continue the conversation about mental health, and to break this stigma that surrounds it.” 

Angel recalled that, after filming their reality series, Nick sat the family down in the living room and asked, “Who wants to go to therapy? I will pay for you to go to therapy.” She noted she was the only one who took him up on the offer and has “been in therapy ever since then.” 

On the personal front, Angel married Corey Conrad in February 2014, with whom she shares a daughter named Harper Noelle Conrad.  

Following Aaron’s death, Angel kept his ashes in her home before laying him to rest at Forest Lawn in August 2023. “To lose a twin, it’s an out-of-body experience. He’s a part of me. And it was like when he died, I had this sense of, ‘I’ve got to get him in my house. I’ve got to bring him home and protect him,” she told PEOPLE.

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