Nick Carter Finds Peace With New Album ‘Love Life Tragedy'

Nick Carter is back with his first solo album in a decade — and fans are listening.

Carter has been a pop icon for more than 30 years. As a member of the boy band Backstreet Boys—one of the best-selling vocal groups of all time—he helped define an era of pop music, and the group is gearing up for a residency at the Sphere Las Vegas.

After nearly a decade away from solo work, he’s returned with a full-length album, Love Life Tragedy, which debuted in the top 10 on the U.S. albums chart upon its release.

In an exclusive interview with PopCrush Nights host Donny Meacham, Carter opens up about the personal meaning behind the album’s title.

“Well, it’s interesting because I had a different title for the album years ago. It was called the Who I Am album, which was also going to be the “Who I Am” tour. I was writing music, and I was like, okay, I’m thinking first and foremost, who am I when it came to music? As I kept writing songs, I couldn’t commit to one style of songs,” he tells PopCrush.

After recording nearly 30 songs—only 16 of which made the final cut—Carter ultimately landed on the title Love Life Tragedy.

“Oh, I kind of like that a lot,” he says. “That can embody everything that I was doing.”

When asked if the new album gave him the space to finally grieve the loss of his brother, Aaron Carter, and sisters, Leslie and Bobbie Jean Carter, he responds with a heartfelt and resounding yes.

“Absolutely. Whenever I was in pain and I was hurting from something that was happening in my life these past three years that I’d been writing music, I would go into the studio and I would just let it all out, and tell it in a way that was sometimes indirect and sometimes direct,” he says.

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“The studio was my safe space to grieve,” Carter tells Meacham, reflecting on the emotional weight of recording “Hurts to Love You.”

He recalls having a breakdown during the recording session, prompting the producer to step in and help him process his emotions before he could finish the song.

Listen to Nick Carter’s “Hurts to Love You”:

In the Paramount+ documentary The Carters: Hurts To Love You, the Backstreet Boys member and his sister, Angel Carter Conrad—Aaron’s twin, and his only remaining sibling—reflected on the singer’s tragic death.

He admitted that he had been so busy that he hadn’t had a chance to grieve his siblings’ deaths.

Aaron died in November 2022 at the age of 34, and their sister Bobbie Jean passed away in December 2023 at 41. His sister Leslie also died in 2012.

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