Nick Carter Was ‘Very Emotional’ Having the Backstreet Boys‘ Support After Aaron Carter’s Death

Nick Carter spoke out in a new interview on Friday (Dec. 2) about what it felt like to have the rest of the Backstreet Boys by his side following Aaron Carter‘s sudden death.

“It was very emotional for me, having my guys with me,” the pop star told Extra about setting foot on stage for the first time after his younger brother passed away last month. “That night, it was tough to get up on stage. There’s the old saying ‘the show must go on.’ That’s been with us for years, but that night, I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know what was going to come from it, getting on that stage. Getting the reaction from the fans, it was definitely comforting, and it meant a lot to me.”

During their show at London’s O2 Arena one day after Aaron’s Nov. 5 death, Kevin Richardson spoke on behalf of a visibly emotional Nick and the rest of his bandmates as he paid tribute to the “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” rapper.

“Tonight, we’ve got a little bit of heavy hearts because we lost one of our family members yesterday,” the Backstreet Boys member said at the time. “We just wanted to find a moment in our show to recognize him … He’s a part of our family. We thank you guys for all your love, all your well wishes and all your support.”

Howie Dorough then went on to dedicate the boy band’s next song to the younger Carter’s memory, calling him “our little brother.”

Meanwhile the veteran boy band’s latest holiday single, “Last Christmas” — off their new album A Very Backstreet Christmas — became the quintet’s first No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart since “I Want It That Way” back in 1999.