Nick Carter Talks *NSYNC Reunion & Honoring Late Brother Aaron One Year After His Passing

As fans continue celebrating *NSYNC’s long-awaited reunion, fellow boy banders the Backstreet Boys are just as ecstatic about the comeback. We exclusively caught up with Nick Carter, who revealed what went down in the band’s group chat during *NSYNC’s VMAs appearance.

“Kevin [Richardson] was like, ‘I’m really happy for those guys,’” Carter told us. “We all are. It’s been 20 years since they’ve done anything, so we’re rooting for them and really excited for whatever they do next.”

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“It’s great for the music industry and regardless of what anybody might think about our relationship or ‘rivalry,’ our entire group’s happy for them and their fans,” Carter, 43, continued. “We’ve been going non-stop for the past eight years and we want them to have their moment, too.”

While the Backstreet Boys are enjoying downtime following their four-year DNA World Tour, Carter isn’t slowing down. The singer and songwriter’s currently on his Who I Am solo tour, which comes on the back of single “Superman” and new track “Made For Us,” which he wrote with friend and Backstreet Boys collaborator Bryan Shackle. Like his tour, the song pays homage to Carter’s love for 80s music.

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“It’s funny because I’m the nostalgic person for fans, but I’m nostalgic for the 80s,” explained Carter, who also has a new song, “Happy Xmas (Cancer’s Over)” with Kyle Khou on fundraising holiday album Christmas 4 the Kids, which will raise funds and awareness for the Cure 4 the Kids Foundation. “I’ve been watching ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Ferris Bueller,’ so I wanted to go back to the 80s.”

The song’s accompanied by a lyric video featuring footage submitted by fans of their memorable experiences with Carter throughout the Backstreet Boys’ 30-year career.

Carter performs the track on his Who I Am tour, which continues throughout the fall, with upcoming stops in Ohio, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Niagara Falls (with Saturday’s show streaming on Veeps). As well as Backstreet Boys hits like “Larger Than Life” and solo songs like “I Got You,” the set list celebrates Carter’s musical influences through fun mashups and covers of songs like Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” U2’s “With or Without You” and AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.”

There are also emotional moments as the father-of-three honors late brother Aaron Carter (who passed away on November 5, 2022) by performing “Hurts to Love You,” which he penned amidst his grief. Although their relationship frequently made dramatic headlines, not a day goes by that Carter doesn’t miss his little brother.

“Nobody knows what my relationship was with my brother,” said Carter, who along with sister Angel Conrad has worked with children’s mental health organization On Our Sleeves, with Conrad previously organizing a Los Angeles benefit concert which raised funds for the organization while celebrating Aaron’s life. “People will think whatever they want to think and that doesn’t bother me. The facts are what I know and that’s all that matters.”

“I’ll perform the song in his honor,” Carter added. “I think about him every single day and I miss him every single day. Losing him is something I continue to process and the more time goes on, the more good times start to come back and that’s what I want to focus on.”

Carter’s other key focus remains his family. While he’s had a difficult few years facing grief, mental health challenges and allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied and continues to fight, he and wife Lauren Kitt Carter are determined to shield Odin, seven, Saoirse, four, and Pearl, two, from their troubles.

“My children are young, so they only care about cartoons, ballet and Roblox,” he said. “Our focus is making sure the outside world doesn’t affect them and that they can just be children – happy and safe. My job as a father and Lauren’s as a mother is to separate the adult world from the children’s worlds and make sure they’re protected. Everything I do is for my family and I’ll do everything humanly possible to protect them. I’ll go to the ends of the earth for them.”

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