There were a lot of things that were super popular in the 1990s that seem to be far less popular now—Beanie Babies, the Macarena, Tamagotchis, AOL, Pokémon, Goosebumps books and frosted tips are just a few. But if there is one thing that the 1990s is truly iconic for, it has to be boy bands. Though boy bands really started around the 1950s, with names like The Jackson 5 and the Osmonds, it was not until the 1990s that boy bands really blew up. The ’90s had popular bands like Boyz II Men, NSYNC, Westlife and—we cannot forget one of the most popular ever—The Backstreet Boys.
Though The Backstreet Boys prefer being called a “male vocal group,” they will forever be one of the most iconic boy bands of all time.
The Backstreet Boys was first formed April 20th, 1993 in Orlando, FL. The band was made up of five members including Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell and Nick Carter. The group’s first performance was at SeaWorld in Orlando. Then they were signed to their first record deal in 1994. They were a huge success. They released eight studio albums, 28 singles, one live album and three compilation albums. For a boy band, that is not too bad. The band never officially broke up and still performs together sometimes, but many have moved forward with their lives to start families and solo careers. One of those band members is Nick Carter.
15 The Basics
Unofficially, Nick Carter was the third member of The Backstreet Boys. Originally born in Jamestown, New York in 1980, Carter and his family moved down to Ruskin, Florida which is about 100 miles from Orlando. There, his family expanded and became a family with five kids instead of just one.
When Carter was very young, his mother Jane enrolled him in voice lessons and dance classes. He enjoyed acting and even made an appearance in the ’90s film Edward Scissorhands. Interestingly enough, Carter auditioned for both The Mickey Mouse Club and The Backstreet Boys when he was 11 years old. He got into both, and though his mother would have preferred The Mickey Mouse Club, he obviously chose The Backstreet Boys. Carter leaned much more to singing and dancing than he did acting.
14 Carter Drama
The Carter family produced more than just the talented Nick Carter. Aaron Carter, Nick’s younger brother, also had a successful career. But not everything was peaches and cream for such a talented family. The Carter parents were divorced in 2003, which led to some arrests, battery charges, and restraining orders. There was always a lot of competition as well between Nick and Aaron.
In Nick’s 2013 memoir, he describes his family as “toxic.”
At one point, Nick had a DUI and Aaron was arrested for possession of an illegal substance. In 2011, Aaron checked into rehab for a month. The following year, Leslie Carter, another Carter child, overdosed on prescription pain pills. Nick did not attend her funeral because of his feud with his family. Unfortunately, the family, especially both Carter boys, is still surrounded with controversy and drama.
13 Career For Nick
After Nick chose The Backstreet Boys over The Mickey Mouse Club, his life started going full speed. In 1995, when Carter was about 15, the band flew to Sweden to record some music, including their first single “We’ve Got It Going On.”
Their first album, Backstreet Boys, was released worldwide by the end of 1996. From there, the band kept releasing albums including Millennium which featured the hit “I Want It That Way.” The band toured all over the world.
In 2002, the group decided to leave their management company, but Carter decided to stay with the company and launch his solo career. The group took a break at this time, and Carter released his album, Now or Never. His album was a great success and went certified gold. Carter also grew in popularity.
12 Lauren Gets A Job
Nick Carter started dating Lauren Kitt in 2008. So, who is she? She was born in Los Angeles, California in 1983. She writes and acts. Lauren is also a fitness enthusiast. In 2013, she slowly rose to fame with her video series called Kitt Fit on YouTube which featured great workout tips. She quickly rose in online popularity when Carter made cameos in her videos.
Lauren no longer posts to her YouTube channel, but regularly posts to Instagram and even Twitter—of which she has been an active member since 2009. Besides acting in Kitt Fit, Lauren appeared in some films and TV shows alongside Nick Carter.
Honestly, Lauren’s career seems as though it did not really take off until she started dating Carter,
but she seems to be a great girl with a funny and sweet Twitter page.
11 The Love Story
The romance between Carter and Lauren should be put into a Backstreet Boys song. They first met when they were set up on a blind date in October of 2008. Upon first impression, Lauren thought that Carter was super cocky.
It turns out that Nick was just intimidated by Lauren because she was tall and gorgeous. Nick felt like their connection was instant, but Lauren did not know that he was the one until three months into dating. They enjoy reading together and playing video games. It was not always easy for Nick and Lauren in their relationship.
Many fans were very jealous and would post rude things about Lauren. The couple did not let that phase them, though. They clearly love being together a lot, because in February of 2013, Nick proposed. They were married April 12, 2014 in Santa Barbara, California.
10 Grab Your Popcorn
Nick and Lauren worked in a few films together. The first was a short film titled The Pendant. Nick starred and directed the film. It is about a couple that finds themselves stuck in a cursed love triangle from the past. Lauren was featured as a ghost. Dead 7 is another movie the couple was featured in that came out in 2016.
Actually, Nick Carter wrote the movie.
He starred in it along with fellow band member AJ McLean and another boyband legend Joey Fatone from NYSNC. Nick was the leading man and Lauren played one of the foremost female characters. The movie is a post-apocalyptic Western featuring a zombie plague and a band of gunslingers. The couple was also featured on the reality show I (Heart) Nick Carter.
9 Saying 'I Do'
After their engagement, Nick turned the wedding planning over to Lauren. She described their wedding as “organic elegance with a rustic twist.” The wedding took place on a resort in Santa Barbara alongside the ocean. Décor included lanterns in candles, ivory flowers and succulents. Songs from Star Wars, Twilight and The Legend of Zelda were featured in the processional.
AJ McLean’s daughter was their flower girl, and the couple’s two dogs were their ring bearers. The Jaws theme played before Lauren came down the aisle in her white, lacey, fitted gown. Her veil was floor-length and her hair was braided and pinned up. Nick grinned brightly and was wearing a black tux and bowtie. The couple was married under a trellis made of birch branches, roses, violet orchids and white hydrangeas.
8 Go Team!
Alright, keep in mind that Carter is originally from upstate New York. However, he and his family moved to Florida when he was six years old. When he was around ten, he really started enjoying the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His father would go to The Sombrero (the Buccaneers’s stadium until 1999) and hand out fliers and things during games. Carter’s dad would bring back Buccaneers memorabilia, which Carter fell in love with.
In the early 1990s, Carter even had opportunities to perform in the Bucs’s halftime shows, which he remembers fondly. As it turns out, one of his first dance coaches was also the Buccaneers’s cheerleading coach, so he would often perform at halftime when he was as young as 11. Though Carter resides on the West coast, he swears he will be in attendance at any Buccaneers playoff games in the near future.
7 Cardiomyopathy
In Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It: Nick Carter, Nick Carter mentions that he remembers having his first drink when he was two years old. All throughout the peak days of The Backstreet Boys,
Nick struggled with all different kinds of substance use.
By 2008, Nick had gained a ton of weight and was experiencing chest discomfort and fatigue while on tour. He ended up seeing a cardiologist and had multiple tests done.The day before he was supposed to get the test results, Nick went out partying and binge drinking. The following day his diagnosis was cardiomyopathy.
Cardiomyopathy is a weakening of the heart muscles which can eventually lead to heart failure, an irregular heartbeat or sudden cardiac death. Carter realized if he did not turn his life around, he would not have a life much longer. He worked to get clean and slim down to a healthier weight.
6 Creative Nature
Besides being into the musical arts, Nick Carter enjoys the visual arts as well. In his spare time, he enjoys drawing and painting. In fact, some of his art pieces have been auctioned off to benefit child cancer research. One painting sold for $7,600 on eBay. His fans totally love his art. They are willing to buy prints and posters of his work. Nick also wants to work on comic books.
In 2000, Nick came up with a concept for a comic called The Backstreet Project featuring members of the band with their alter egos, the “Cyber Crusaders.” In February of that year, he met Stan Lee (the former editor and chief of Marvel Comics) and the team paired up to create one issue of the comic. Nick hopes to do another comic book in the future.
5 Dancing With The Stars Deal
Nick Carter definitely has some moves. In 2015, Carter participated in the 21st season of Dancing With the Stars. His partner was Sharna Burgess, a dancer from Australia. The pair did awesome, with an overall score of 27.2 per dance out of 30 points per dance. They danced to many Backstreet Boys songs including “Larger than Life” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”
During his time on the show, Lauren was pregnant with their first child. A few weeks in, Nick announced Lauren’s pregnancy on the show. In week 8 of the competition, they did a gender reveal live on the show. The couple opened a giant present that blue balloons floated out of, revealing that they would have a boy. Nick made it to the final week of the show, coming in second to Bindi Irwin and her partner, Derek Hough.
4 Little Odin
By October 27, 2015, it was revealed that Nick and Lauren were expecting their first child together. The couple had previously had a miscarriage, so they were very excited. Nick was on Dancing With The Stars at the time of Lauren’s pregnancy, so the baby’s gender was revealed on the show.
The baby boy’s due date was April 12th, 2016 which was the couple’s second wedding anniversary.
During the first trimester of Lauren’s pregnancy, there were some complications. Fortunately, the mother and baby were healthy by the second trimester. Lauren admitted she had no pregnancy cravings. The baby came a few days after his due date and was born April 19th, 2016 after an at-home water birth. Their son is named Odin Reign Carter, after the Norse god of art and wisdom.
3 Game On
Nick Carter admits that he is totally addicted to gaming. Duke Nukem, The Elder Scroll Online, Mortal Kombat and World of Warcraft are some of his favorites. Video games were a big outlet for Nick when he was trying to overcome some of his other addictions, like partying and drinking. Nick has even connected with some of his fans on World of Warcraft and started games with them.
Since becoming a father, however, he has started to cut back on the gaming. He does not want Odin to play games because he does not want Odin to be addicted to them like he is. It seems like Carter has not conquered that addiction yet. On his Twitter page, he regularly posts about what games he is playing lately.
2 Criminal Claims
Unfortunately, Nick Carter is still surrounded by as much controversy today as he was in the early 2000s. At the end of 2017, the singer Melissa Schuman, formerly a member of the girl group Dream, accused Carter of forcing himself on her in 2002, when she was just 18. She said on her blog that Carter forced her to engage in intimate practices and then forced her to have intercourse at his apartment, even though she was saving herself for marriage.
Schuman says she found the strength to come forward with her story after so many other women this past year told their story.
Carter denies this saying everything they did was consensual. The two went on later in life to record and perform songs together. Carter says it is not in his nature to cause anyone discomfort or harm. Lauren has stood by her husband through the allegations.
1 Odin’s First Birthday
Odin Carter is going to be two years old this April. Nick and Lauren celebrated Odin’s first birthday last year. Nick posted a picture of Odin standing holding a red starfish and a big “Happy Birthday” balloon bouquet with the caption “Happy birthday to my little boy. I love you Odin.” Odin is clearly his father’s son with his bleach blonde hair and his daddy’s eyes. The couple has even started styling Odin’s hair like his dad’s.
On fatherhood, Nick says it is one of the best things that has ever happened to him. Nick says that Odin melts his heart, giving him a reason to stay healthy and motivated. Lauren must feel the same way about little Odin. She regularly posts pictures of them together with captions like, “My reality is better than my dreams.”
Sources: IMDB, People, Bustle, US Magazine, Inside Weddings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, MTV News, ET Online, Twitter, Time