By now we’ve all learned of the tragic death of former child star Aaron Carter, and as new details arise, our hearts only ache more for the huge loss.

The I Want Candy singer was found dead in his Lancaster, California home last week and we still don’t have answers yet as to what happened. We previously reported on the final moments leading up to his death and how other stars are reacting to it — but now Carter’s best friend and manager is telling his point of view.

In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, Big Umbrella Management‘s Taylor Helgeson opened up about the last time he heard from his friend — and hearing about Aaron’s optimism about the future is world-shattering:

“He was so excited, he was extremely optimistic. It was a few years since we released [his album] Love, and he felt ready to do another one.”

So sad… Especially now with how everyone is apparently going after quick money grabs and trying to release content as soon as possible following the star’s passing.

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Taylor continued on to reveal the Aaron’s Party singer had big plans for his new album Love 2:

“I got these incredible producers from Denmark to fly out to produce his album and it was the first time in a while that I’ve seen him so excited. He had more [to give], and he didn’t quit.”

He said the day of the tragic incident, the musician was sharing even more excitement about the new music regardless of his struggles:

“The last night, he texted me and he said, ‘Bro, these songs are amazing.’ And I said, ‘I know, I can’t wait until you record them.’ And he said, ‘I promise you, this is our best work yet.’ He was really optimistic and he felt like he was dealing with a lot of problems, but he felt like he could handle it. This album was going to be him owning everything. He was going to take accountability, and he felt that was going to be the best way to do it.”

It’s gut-wrenching he never got to see these works come to life…

The talent manager went on to reveal the very last text conversation he had with the 34-year-old before he died:

[Aaron said] ‘Checking in!’

[And I replied] ‘Hey, how are you doing?’

‘I’m just headed back to the house. I was in L.A. All good though. Things are looking up.’

‘I know it.’

‘Holy s**t! The new album, what the f**k? This is definitely a Grammy!’

‘Yeah, and you deserve it.’

‘Huge! Our best work yet.’

Tragically, that was the last time Taylor would ever hear from his friend:

“And that was it. It was 6.32 pm. We don’t know what happened. We know that he called me. I was on a plane, so he called my friend, his friend as well, and he asked to come to the house to record some music, to start tracking these vocals, and from what I heard that was around 9:30 pm. But he never made it to the house.”

Just tear-jerking…

Helgeson’s intuition knew something wasn’t quite right, though, when the 7th Heaven alum started missing his own shows:

“Aaron was a big Queen fan, and he lived by that saying, ‘The Show Must Go On.’ And he wouldn’t miss a show for anything if he could help it. In the last few weeks, he missed some things, and that was so uncharacteristic of him, and I was upset.”

He said the pair were at odds the last few weeks of the star’s life due to videos of him huffing surfacing online, and the talent agent used the “silent treatment” as a wake-up call like he’d done in the past — but sadly this time it didn’t work out:

“It is so hard for me to explain it. He was so complicated and hard-headed, and I was too. If I didn’t answer the phone for two days I would get thirty calls and he’d ask ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What can I do?’ Not many friends do that. We would talk several times a day, and I felt like that if I didn’t respond to him [then] he would understand how serious I was about him dealing with this stuff. It just felt like, if I kept responding and I kept carrying on, that you keep getting a pass on yourself. So the last couple of days, after that conversation, in particular, it was the first time we’d talked in like four days because I was so upset.”

The Big Umbrella Management agent recalled urging Aaron to get help to no avail:

“That’s the last time we went back and forth, but he texted me a few times after that, and I left it because I was upset, and I was scared for him, and I just wanted him to feel that it was real, you know? As much as it sucks to admit, we were … I wouldn’t say we were fighting, but I would say that I was at odds with him the last couple of days and weeks.”

Taylor said his friend didn’t take him seriously and although he said he was “clean” he would partake in other drugs behind closed doors. He said Carter would repeatedly tell him — and everyone else — the videos “weren’t real”. No one seemed to be able to get through to him. The I’m All About You singer reassured him that he was okay frequently:

“I told him that I was scared for him and he texted me and told me, ‘Don’t be scared, I’m always going to be here. Don’t worry about me.'”

‘I’m always going to be here.’

So, so heartbreaking.

The talent manager said he did everything he could — but the addiction was just too overbearing for his friend:

“I know enough to know that you can’t stop an addict. You can help try to show them what is happening and you can try to shepherd them, but you can’t force anybody to do anything. That doesn’t mean that I don’t backtrack in my head and sometimes. I mean, I don’t know what people expected of us. To tie him down? I’d be lying if I didn’t say that, at maybe at this point, I wish we would of – but that’s not real life. Aaron was a grown man and he took control of his life in the way he chose, and no matter what we wanted, we couldn’t force anything.”

Heglson refused to speculate on any cause of death but remains Carter wasn’t suicidal. A big turning point in the singer’s mental health was his loss of custody and rocky relationship, though, because “all he ever wanted” was a kid and a wife:

“The losing custody part … that was really big. He was hurt but he wasn’t hopeless … He would tell me that as soon as this was done, as soon as we figure out what’s going to happen with Prince, then I will take care of that. You could basically say he was white-knuckling it.”

Poor Aaron…

Taylor doesn’t want his friend to only be remembered for his lows, though — in fact, he said he had a “childlike appreciation for life”:

“He was one of the funniest people I have met. He had no limit. He loved to provide other people with fun. He was quirky and his perception was different because he’d seen so much. He had a child-like appreciation of life. He loved to see people happy. He had a carefreeness that was unrivaled. He was. 34-year-old doing backflips off a drum set on stage – who does that any more? … If you went into his house and opened his pantry it would look like how a 10-year-old kid’s house would look if he had a million dollars.”

Aww, that sounds exactly like the Aaron Carter we all knew and still love so very much.

Our hearts are with Taylor and the rest of Aaron’s family and loved ones during this time. He will be dearly missed.

If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, help is available. Consider checking out the resources SAMHSA provides at https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline.

[Image via Instagram/Aaron Carter/Big Umbrella Management]

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