Nick Carter Breaks Down On Stage As Backstreet Boys Honor ‘Little Brother’ Aaron Carter After His Sudden Death

B.D.

Nick Carter is mourning the death of his little brother.

Of course, as we’ve been reporting, Aaron Carter passed away over the weekend at his home in Lancaster, California. He was just 34 years old.

At the time of his death, the star’s older brother was prepping for a Backstreet Boys show in London. And on Sunday night, when it came time for the boy band to perform at O2 Arena in the British city, the rest of the group stepped up to support the 42-year-old during what has obviously been a very difficult time.

Related: Hilary Duff Pays Tribute To Ex Aaron Carter Following His Death

Throughout the London concert, according to fans who were in attendance, Nick was visibly emotional. At several points, he broke down into tears while trying to perform. And Aaron’s history with the rest of the Backstreet Boys prior to his death only made things harder for everyone. During the show, per E! News, there were in memoriam images of Aaron flashing up on the video screen. The entire group was left to grapple with his death as the show went on.

One concertgoer, identified by the outlet as Jon D. Barker, recalled what happened during the memorial part of what he referred to as an “emotionally charged” concert:

“During their last single from DNA, the music video was playing on the top screen. The ending images of the video were the photos Nick had shared on Twitter recently to crowd applause, before the band took some time to talk about Aaron’s passing and console Nick. Everyone was crying as you imagine.”

Ugh.

Before a performance of the band’s latest single, No Place, the group came together to make an announcement. Member Kevin Richardson took charge. As Nick stood beside him with tears in his eyes, Kevin told the audience:

“[The song] is very special to us because that song is about family. Everybody in here, we all grew up together. We’ve been through highs and lows and ups and downs. We thank you for being with the Backstreet family for 29 years, for all the love.”

Richardson then referenced Aaron’s death and the despair it had caused for everyone:

“Tonight we’ve got a little bit of heavy hearts. Because we lost one of our family members yesterday. We just wanted to find a moment in our show to recognize him.”

All four of the other band members took turns hugging Nick as fans tried to rally in support. Howie Dorough then stepped up and dedicated the song to Aaron. Dorough referred to the late recording artist as the group’s “little brother.”

Related: Aaron’s Former Fiancée Melanie Martin Tearfully Reacts To Singer’s Death

You can watch the emotional moment from Sunday’s show (below):

So sad.

Over on Twitter, longtime fans of the group were overcome with sadness as they watched Nick struggle through the difficult performance. Here are just a few of the reactions to that tough moment (below):

“I’m amazed Nick was still at the show. Beautiful tribute and respect for Aaron”

“Man, my heart broke watching this…”

“A endless amount of respect for Nick and the boys!”

“I am so sad for Nick, it’s heartbreaking. I hope he can find solace and peace”

“This is so heartbreaking. Hope the Carters’ and all involved continue to find the strength and courage.”

“Backstreet fans thought of Aaron as everyone’s little brother since we all grew up together and he’s around the guys a lot. This is so sad.”

“Was there last night and it was so sad watching him struggle through the concert, especially the first half, was crying and just looked devasted but they still put on an incredible show. Hugh respect to nick for carrying on”

No one would have faulted Nick for not joining the rest of the group as he grieves — or even the whole concert being postponed. Such an awful situation. We continue to send our condolences to Nick and everyone else affected by Aaron’s untimely death.

R.I.P.

[Image via MEGA/WENN]

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