Date: Friday, February 12, 1999
Title: Little Prince Of Pop shows his age
Author: JANE STEVENSON
Source: Toronto Sun
Source: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicArtistsC/carter_aaron.html
Topic: 1999 Article/Interview
Pick: Yes
I had been warned.
Ask 11-year-old, pint-sized pop star Aaron Carter about Nintendo, the Beanie Babies, or any one of his 17 pets, and he'll talk your ear off.
Otherwise, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter's younger brother -- who performs his first headlining show here at Roy Thomson Hall tomorrow -- wouldn't have a lot to say when it comes to his chirpy pop music that's selling up a storm.
I took this as a challenge and ended up paying for it ever so slightly.
The cheerful, if monosyllabic, Carter mainly answered questions with a "Yep," or "No," followed by a giggle down the line from L.A. But every once in a while he formed complete sentences.
"I definitely wanted to do it, most definitely," Carter says of singing. "I think it was a little bit of my brother, he encouraged me. I've always wanted to do it all my life 'cause I've been seeing my brother doing it."
Which doesn't necessarily rule out another career choice for the blond mop-top who appeared on the cover of his first album in orange overalls with a big "A" on the bib.
"I want to go to college and be a marine biologist," Carter says with enthusiasm.
For now, the Tampa native is on the West Coast recording a followup to his 1998 self-titled debut, which is verging on platinum status in Canada with sales of 90,000 after such hits as Crush On You and Crazy Little Party Girl.
The new album's title? Little Prince Of Pop. It's expected to be out by the spring with the first single called Girl You Shine.
Carter, who will perform a matinee show at Roy Thomson Hall with the help of two backup dancer-singers and pre-recorded music, last played in T.O. opening for the Backstreet Boys at the Molson Amphitheatre in August.
He appears unfazed by the fact that this time he'll be performing at a hall that has hosted the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa over the years.
Carter is, after all, a major concert veteran, having played to 100,000 fans in a German soccer stadium.
"It was a big crowd -- it was fun," is all he will allow.
It was in Germany -- Berlin, to be exact -- that Carter, who had a rock band back in Florida called Dead End at the age of seven, was discovered after he recorded Crush On You with Backstreet Boys producer Gary Carolla.
Carter now finds himself the target of mobs of screaming teenaged girls, and big brother Nick has some advice for him in that department.
"He says that's just the way it is," says Carter. "He says, like, 'Watch out for the fans. The fans are so nice and you should respect your fans. Meet them and sign for them 'cause they buy your albums.' "
It's clear that Carter, who is tutored by his 17-year-old sister, looks up to Nick, whom he calls "the most important person in my life," on his album liner notes.
Carter reports that Nick is currently back home in Tampa and has a new car -- "a Plymouth Prowler" -- which he hasn't seen yet.
He also says the Backstreet Boys enjoyed their recent stint on Shania Twain's CBS-TV special that airs March 3.
"Nick told me a little bit about it," says Carter. "He was best friends with Mutt Lange, you know, her husband. And he said she's very beautiful."
Suddenly, the line goes dead and Carter is gone.
So much for that Twain followup question and what he thinks about world peace.
