New music from Aaron Carter will benefit a nonprofit mental health foundation for kids
After suffering heartache and grief, Aaron Carter's twin sister, Angel Carter Conrad, is sharing her family's story and previously unheard music from Aaron Carter in hopes of helping others. A portion of proceeds from "The Recovery Album" will go to the nonprofit The Kids Mental Health Foundation.
Aaron Carter died in 2022 after struggling with addiction and mental health. His official cause of death determined by the Los Angeles County coroner was that the 34-year-old singer accidentally drowned in a bathtub after taking an anti-anxiety medication, alprazolam, and inhaling difluoroethane, a flammable gas.
His death was one of a handful of tragedies the Carter family dealt with in recent years.
Leslie Carter, Aaron's sister, died in 2012 at 25 after an apparent overdose. Last year, Bobbie Jean Carter, another sister of Aaron, died at 41 from "intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine," Entertainment Tonight reported.
In 2022, nearly 108,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
"There's certainly a generational dysfunction issue here that comes along with it, but as far as growing up, there was a time when we were, you know, a really close family. There was a lot of love, but there was a lot of chaos going on at the same time," Angel Carter Conrad told CBS Mornings.
She said her parents often fought and that she couldn't lean on them in times of need, but that fame changed the Carter family's dynamics. In addition to Aaron's singing career, brother Nick Carter is a member of the Backstreet Boys.
"Once money started coming in, you know we were a family that had no money," she said. "We were from upstate New York. My parents were poor and they had never seen anything like this before, so once the money started coming in, it really started changing the dynamic because money became the moving force."
Through her grief, she wants people to know you can find the good — even in a bad situation.
"The good in this situation is that Aaron does have this platform and my family has this platform and I would like to turn this ship around and to really start helping some other people and to learn from our story."
Aaron Carter's team and Angel Carter Conrad are now releasing his previously unheard music.
"The fans have been asking for this music, and after Aaron passed away, we put together a benefit concert to honor him called "The Songs for Tomorrow" concert, and we had played 'Recovery' during this show," Angel Carter Conrad said.
She said through her brother's struggles, she eventually lost hope. She focused on her therapy to help.
"There was a time for many years where I always had hope, but in the last few years of Aaron's life, I just was waiting for him to snap out of it, and sadly, he never did."
"The Recovery Album" comes out May 24. In an effort to raise awareness, part of the proceeds will go to the nonprofit The Kids Mental Health Foundation, formerly known as On our Sleeves.
"Children's mental health is so important and I mean, you know we want to create a world where mental health is a vital part of every child's upbringing, and that's what I'm doing with my daughter," Angel Carter Conrad said.
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Kelsie Hoffman is a push and platform editor on CBS News' Growth and Engagement team. She previously worked on Hearst Television's National Desk and as a local TV reporter in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
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