Excerpts from TEEN PEOPLE Real Life Diaries
by Aaron Carter as told to Linda Friedman



I was born one minute after my twin sister, Angel, thirteen years ago, which makes me the youngest of six Carter kids.

My oldest sister is Ginger, a hair and makeup artist, and theres Leslie, fifteen, whos pursuing a singing career. Nineteen-year-old Bobbie Jean (everyone calls her BJ) is an aspiring actress and model. And then, of course, theres Nick.... Hes twenty-one, and he has been in the internationally renowned pop group Backstreet Boys for the past eight years.

As you can imagine, it was pretty crazy growing up around our house. And actually, it still is. My parents think its even worse now! Back then, Angel and I used to chase each other around the house and have wrestling matches every night. Since Im the youngest boy in the family, its no surprise that I got picked on by my older brother and sisters. Nick was the worst. When I was around six years old, he got in trouble for throwing one of my Ninja Turtles in the ocean. My dad made him jump in and get it. I still laugh when I think about that.

When I was a kid, I idolized Nick, but not for the reasons you might expect. It wasnt because he was a singer or because he got mobbed in shopping malls. I was jealous of all the cool stuff he was allowed to do because he was older than I was, like play different sports (hes the one who taught me to throw a football), or go out driving around in his truck.

....So whats it like having an older brother whos famous? Thats a hard question to answer. Nicks been famous for as long as I can remember. I do know that because of Nick, our family got more attention than your average family. It was pretty common for fans to find out where we lived and just show up outside our house. It was always funny to me. I used to walk down to the gate, and theyd ask me, "Wheres Nick?" Id say, "Hes inside. But he doesnt want to come out now." And theyd be, like, "Oh, my God! What do we do?" Some of them would try to climb over the eight-foot gate. We got our dog, Simba, a golden retriever mixed with pit bull and chow, to discourage them so they wouldnt get hurt.

....Seeing Nick sing had a big effect on me. When I was six years old, I told my mom, Jane, that I wanted to be a singer, too. She was really supportive right from the start. She signed me up for the music and voice lessons and became my manager. The next year I formed a band with three guys from my music class. We were called Dead End. Looking back, I have to admit that we were pretty deadlyon the ears! I guess my voice kind of sucked back then. Still, we were able to book some gigs at local coffeehouses and libraries. Because of our ages, we couldnt exactly play at clubs. But one time we got to perform for around two hundred people at a music store in Tampa, and that was really cool for me. I knew I was hooked.

.By the time I released Aarons Party (Come Get It) last fall, I was used to performing in front of big crowds (my first CD ended up selling over a million copies overseas). And I was used to being compared with my older brother. The same thing had happened in Europe, so I knew it was inevitable. But the one thing I never got used to was being called Little Nick. You wont believe this, but sometimes my mom even mixed up our names. Shed need me for something and shed say, "Nick, get over here!" And Id be, like, "Im Aaron, Mother."

I dont want to sound ungrateful, though. I know that I wouldnt have gotten where I am today half as fast if it werent for the opportunities I was able to take advantage of because of Nick. Most new artists dont get the chance to open for Backstreet Boys. Nick encouraged me to sing, and he set a good example for dealing with fame (even though he eventually was able to buy fancy cars and stuff, Nick never changed). He also made sure that I managed to have fun. Weve played a ton of practical jokes on each other on the road. I have a song called "One Bad Apple," and whenever I sang it, Nick, Howie, A.J., Kevin and Brian would take apples and bite into them and throw them out onstage. Id be trying to dance and tripping over half-eaten apples. To get back at them, when they were sleeping, Id take their shaving cream, put it in their hands and then tickle their noses so theyd smash it up in their faces!

It was a big accomplishment for me to finally step out from Nicks shadow. For the longest time, everybody knew me as "Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys younger brother." There was no way to escape it. I knew Id really made my own name for myself in the United States last fall when I did the Wal-Mart tour. We stopped in thirteen cities, and in each of them a huge crowd showed up to see me perform. The parking lots were overflowing with fans. After that, instead of saying, "Theres Nicks brother," people started saying, "Theres Aaron Carter." It felt really good.