Singer and actor Aaron Carter died on Saturday, November 5, 2024, at the age of 34, according to The New York Times. Known for his hit song, “I Want Candy,” in the early 2000s, the former child star was found dead in his home in Southern California after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call for help at his address. While authorities have not yet released Carter’s exact cause of death to the public, his brother, Nick Carter, alluded to a potential cause or contributing factors in his death in a post on Instagram.
In the lengthy tribute, Carter’s older brother posted a picture of the two of them when they were younger, sharing that his heart is now “broken” in the wake of Aaron’s untimely death. “Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded,” he wrote. “Addiction and mental illness is the real villain here. I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know.”
Aaron Carter’s journey with mental health issues and substance abuse
According to US Weekly, Carter faced many mental health challenges throughout his career and continually struggled with substance abuse. In September 2024, Carter checked into rehab after being arrested for driving under the influence and marijuana possession just a few months earlier. At the time, he told reporters that he was “detoxing” from marijuana and Xanax and had been seeing a therapist to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Two years later, however, Carter revealed that he had received an official diagnosis of schizophrenia, acute anxiety, bipolar disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. It was also around this time that his brother filed a restraining order against him, alleging that Aaron had been harboring thoughts about killing Nick’s pregnant wife. According to Nick, he was “left with no choice” but to file the restraining order to protect his family, but hoped that Aaron would get the “proper treatment” he needed. Aaron denied these allegations, claiming that he and his brother hadn’t spoken in years.
