Aaron Carter, 34, Began as a Child Star

Aaron Carter, who became a pop star as a child and later embraced rap, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34. His family confirmed his death after emergency responders were called to his home but gave no details. "We are extremely saddened and shocked to confirm the passing of Aaron Carter today," a representative said in a statement per NBC News, adding, "We cannot express the outpouring of love coming in." His fiancée, Melanie Martin, said, "We are still in the process of accepting this unfortunate reality," per the AP.

Carter's self-titled debut album was a hit in 1997, which he followed up with Aaron's Party (Come Get It) in 2000, Oh Aaron in 2001, and Another Earthquake! in 2002, People reports. Carter appeared on Dancing With the Stars and as an actor on Lizzie McGuire, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and other shows. In 2006, he and his siblings were featured on a reality program, House of Carters. After turning to rap music, he released his final album, LØVË, in 2018. He was the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.

He had struggled recently with drug addiction and mental health problems. In a 2019 interview, he said he suffered from multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety, and manic depression. In 2017, Carter came out as bisexual, per CNN, which he said has been "weighing on my chest for nearly half of my life." He wrote on Twitter that "this doesn’t bring me shame, just a weight and burden I have held onto for a long time that I would like lifted off me." Survivors include an 11-month-old son, Prince. (More obituary stories.)