Nick Carter was born in Jamestown, New York on January 28,1980 to Jane and Robert Carter. When Nick was 4 his family began to grow, First with sister Bobby Jean, and later with Leslie, and then finally with fraternal twins Aaron and Angel. The oldest Carter was a natural ham from the time he could walk. Dressed only in diapers, he'd amused his family and customers at his Dad's Yankee Rebel Lounge by 'bustin' a move. His spunky personality and love of attention kept his mom and dad real busy.
By the time his family relocated to the Tampa Bay area of Florida, Nick was in 4th grade and had started to channel his excess energy into singing, dancing and even a little bit of acting! One of his very first roles was the lead in Phantom Of The Opera. Before long, his singing was winning him plenty of notice and cool jobs like his 2 year stint singing during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' halftime show. Nick's vocal stylings also won the New Original Amateur hour in 1992- pretty cool for a kid barely in high school!
By age 15, Nick had done a couple of commericals and was looking for a longer project. Thats when he happen to find AJ McLean and Howie Dorough at the Nickelodeon Studios one day. They were all auditioning for roles in a new cable TV show. None of the guys got the part, but this trio relized they'd found something special in each other. Nick, Howie, and AJ were then joined by cousins Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell and the Backstreet Boys were born.
Brian remembers his first impression of the blonde-haired singer who was destined to become his best friend in the group. "The main things I remember about Nick, when I very first met him, is how small he was," recalls Brian. "He was so energetic and full of life. I was like 'Wow'! I was totally bowled over, and then I heard his voice. Man, it was so big for such a little guy." (Not so little anymore, Nick is the tallest of the BSB!)
This little guy with the big voice soon proved to be the biggest practical joker of all of the guys! In fact, Nick's pranks have become legendary. Who gave BSB's manager Donna the piece of that tasted like fish? Nick. Who stole all of AJ's cloths one night from his hotel room? Nick. Who was FIRST to start a cake fight at a posh party? Nick! "I'm definity the prankster of the group," says the blonde one with a smirk. "I like to do anything I can to these guys."
While the other guys have pretty good senses of humor, they have been known to take thier revenge. "Once we threw him out of the dressing room in his underwear in front of a whole bunch of girls," Brian recalls. (Wish I had been there!) "He got really mad but it was really funny."
Despite all the kidding around, Nick's very serious about his commitment to the BSB. "I think everyone has a dream that they want to fulfill in life and I think this is our dream," he says quite seriously, "We wanted to make it happen and thats what we did. And we enjoy every minute of it and we take every day like it's our last."
By the looks of their success aboard and their plans for domination of the U.S. record charts this summer, you can bet that the end is no where in sight. Nick, like the rest of his bandmates, is always working to improve his skills as a singer, dancer, and musician. Almoast five years ago Nick started taking drum lessons and now he's good enough to play on stage during shows! It's something he'd definitely like to do more of.
Nick's taste in music is probably the most varied of all the Backstreet Boys. He's a huge fan of alt rockers Nirvana but also loves the soaring pipes of Steve Perry, frontman for the 80's era hitmakers Journey. "My range is from old rock to alternative music," he says. "I love R&B,too, because that's what we sing, anf then pop and all that stuff."
Over the past 2 years, Backstreet Boys have romped to the top of the records sales charts in Canada, Germany, Great Britian, and many other countries. However, their worldwide success and the attention that comes with it, hasn't changed Nick one bit. In fact, he's still slightly embarrassed to be compared with heavy hitters like Boy 2 Men, a group that all the Backstreet Boys would love to harmonize with someday. "The biggest surpise for me is atually walk in a store and see your single sitting on the shelf," he says candidly. "You can't believe it's you sitting next to all these other famous artist."
As the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys , Nick tends to get the lion's share of attention from the young females. Yet, he's not at all conceited about the extra eyes on him. "It's flattering," he says, but right now he's just not ready for a girlfriend. "I know a lot of girls that are just friends- the way I perfer it," he says. "I don't really want to fall in love yet. I prefer to wait a little bit... We really don't have that much time for girlfriends."
What kind of girl rocks Nick's world? Well, he admits that brunettes have often caught his eye, although any hair color is attractive if the person has a fun personality and is really nice. Nick also doesn't have a problem dating or hanging around girls that are fans of the BSB as long as they treat him like a normal human being. This merry prankster admits that people with a good sense of humor are a must and a shared interest in music is always helpful.
"To be honest, I've never really fallen in love. I've never felt this strong sensation," he admits. With the tight schedule he and the rest of the guys have been on for the past few years, it's not likely that he'll find out what fallen in love very soon. "Personally, I love girls, but the fact is that we're always on the road," he says. "It's hard to autually stay down with one girl and go away. It's kind of hard to do that to somebody."
Nick's popularity with fans makes the other Backstreet Boys quite protective of their youngest member. "Hes the one who gets grabbed at the most," says best bud Brian. "If me and him are getting out of the bus at the same time, they'd probably go for him. That's why we all try to off the bus with him-- we push him out first so we can all walk right on past."
With concerts, photo shoots and mob scenes of his daily life, Nick doesn't have as much time for any of his faveorite hobbies anymore. He tries to keep active, though. While waiting backstage for an interview or as he's crusin to another tour date on the Backstreet Boys' bus, he likes to draw cartoons of himself and the other group members as superheroes. You'll rarely see Nick without a pencil in his hands.
Whenever he's home, Nick likes to indulge in all sorts of water sports. His faveorite way to relax is by taking the family boat for a cruise on the turquoise waters of the Florida Keys. "Alot of the time I go alone. Being on my own,with just the silence of the sea, is such an escape from the constant screaming of fans on a Backstreet Boys tour," he says. "It's something I need to do- just to get away from it all. To me, the Florida Keys are paradise on Earth."
Nick is also a fully certified scuba diver. He enjoys finshing, water skiing, and basically anything that has to do with water. Although he protests that he's not ready for heavy duty romance yet, he admits that sharing his love of the Keys with someone special would be very nice. "If I had to do something romantic I would take her to the beach when the sun was going down," he says of his fantasy date. "The sky would be full of stars, and apart from the sound of the sea it would be a very quiet and a intimate moment."
Despite all the commotion surrounding him, Nick maintains that he's really just a pretty normal guy. While he's enjoying his experiences with Backstreet Boys , his family and his friends in the group play a large part in keeping his head on straight. "I'm a really peaceful person, I don't believe in being mean to people," he says. "Thats something I get from my family."