Shattered Nick Carter breaks his silence after brother Aaron Carter's death

Following the death of Aaron Carter, many eyes had been focused squarely on Nick Carter and the estranged relationship between the two brothers.

Just 24 hours after Aaron Carter's passing, Nick Carter himself has broken his silence on Instagram, confirming those rifts, but making it clear that he adored him.

"My heart is broken. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded"

"I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed. 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 can finally have the peace you could never find here on earth"

The world of showbiz has been paralyzed upon hearing the news: Aaron Carter has passed away.

The singer was found lifeless in his home in Lancaster, United States on Saturday, November 5. He was 34 years old.

Carter became famous as a young pop singer. So did his older brother, Nick Carter, who was a member of the Backstreet Boys.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department told TMZ that, when called to Aaron Carter's home, they found him dead in his bathtub. Nothing could be done to save his life.

The cause of death has not been confirmed. Authorities are investigating what happened and await the coroner's report.

TMZ spoke to Aaron Carter's fiancee, Melanie Martin. The singer had a son with her, Prince Lyric Carter, who was to celebrate his first year on November 22.

"I love Aaron with all my heart and it’s going to be a journey to raise a son without a father," she told TMZ. "Please respect the privacy of my family as we come to terms with the loss of someone we love greatly. We are still in the process of accepting this unfortunate reality."

Aaron Carter rose to fame as a pop singer in the late 1990s, although his name was always linked to that of his brother, Nick Carter, one of the Backstreet Boys.

In fact, Aaron Carter shared several tours with the Backstreet Boys. He also toured with Britney Spears, though they never had the same fame.

Although he stood in the shadow of his brother Nick, the young Aaron knew how to carve out a solo career. His first album, 'Aaron Carter,' sold more than a million copies in 1997. He was 9 years old at the time.

Three years later, his second album 'Aaron's Party (Come Get It)' sold three times that number. At just 12 years old, the boy was a big star in his own right.

Throughout his career, Aaron Carter would release three more studio albums. He recorded 'Oh, Aaron' (2001) and 'Another Earthquake' (2002) at a young age, and then took a long break. Finally, he released 'Love' in 2018.

In the photo, he appears with his mother and his three siblings (Leslie, Angel, and Nick).

The singer also worked on television, with appearances in successful series such as 'Lizzie McGuire' (photo, with Hilary Duff) and 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.'

Unfortunately, the past years of his life were more marked by controversy than by his musical career.

Carter had problems with the law several times. In 2017, he was arrested on a DUI charge. In fact, as Page Six and TMZ claim, the singer was suspected of a DUI only days before his death. Police saw him driving "carelessly," the news outlet reports, and "conducted field sobriety tests." Carter passed the tests and was free to go.

As the singer disclosed on social media and on talk shows, he was coping with serious mental health problems.

Aaron Carter never hid that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety.

For years, the singer battled illegal substance abuse, going back and forth to rehab several times. Whether these issues had something to do with his death will become known after the police investigation.