Title: Aaron Carter has Michael Jackson Pop-Star Dreams
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date: January 30, 2002 Wednesday
Source: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, Pg.E-1 MUSIC PREVIEW
Author: Scott Mervis, Weekend Editor, Post-Gazette
Topic: 2002 Article/Interview
Perhaps it's to be expected that a 14-year-old pop star would require a chaperone, even when talking on the phone.
There's a guy from Jive Records listening in on an interview with Aaron Carter ready to pounce on certain hot-button topics or key words. In this instance, it's two key letters: A.J.
We're talking about the Backstreet Boys, who, regardless of whatever talents he may have to share, happen to be the main reason anyone's ever heard of Aaron Carter in the first place. Aaron is going to have to hang in there a few more years and sell a few more records before he is referred to without also mentioning that he's the little brother of Nick, the blond one in Backstreet.
Aaron happily plays up the connection, calling himself "baby Backstreet" and opening his new record, "Oh Aaron," with a novelty song about promising too many of his friends Backstreet Boys tickets (3,003) and then having to confront Nick with the request (he offers "maybe a dozen"). Nick then sticks around to sing on the bouncy second song and single, "Not Too Young, Not Too Old."
"He's been a very good role model for me," Aaron says and then, halting at the thought of Nick's recent scrape with the law (he was arrested at a nightclub after a scuffle broke out), adds, "There are some incidents that haven't been too role model-ish, but he's doing well and he's a very supportive brother."
Aaron has watched as the Backstreet Boys have endured some growing pains, starting with the rise of the competition.
"It's kind of not right," Aaron says, "because 'N Sync sort of came in and took over and nobody ever gave Backstreet any credit. And they started the boy thing. Other boy bands had to come in and ruin it." Aaron, though, says he loves 'N Sync and, asked if he's allowed to listen to them, says, "By my parents, yes. By my brother, no."
It's when we mention Backstreet's other problems, such as singer A.J. McLean, who interrupted the group's tour last year for a stint in rehab, that the third party chimes in.
"I gotta steer you back toward Aaron's tour or album," says the Jive Records publicist. "I need you to go back there right away."
OK, fair enough. This is Aaron's story, after all, so let's talk about Aaron.
He's a lot more successful than you'd expect someone's little brother to be. With four Top 40 singles already and a prankster rap style that can rock a preteen's world, Aaron is almost living up to his record company's billing of "the little prince of pop."
He started when he was 7, fronting an Orlando band called Dead End, which he claims got a little too heavy metal for him. Like so many other teen stars, he had his first success overseas, in Germany and Japan, with his self-titled debut back in 1998.
At age 10, he made his first big concert splash, opening for the Backstreet Boys before a crowd of 50,000 in Germany. He hit the States in the fall of 2000 wowing kids with his tale of "How I Beat Shaq" on the double-platinum "Aaron's Party," which also features covers of "Iko Iko" and "I Want Candy."
"Oh Aaron," another helping of candy, debuted at No. 7 in August, and is currently platinum at No. 134, looking for a boost from the new single, puppy love ballad "I'm All About You."
Right now, Aaron's out on tour, trying to sing over the screams and pushing the envelope for the preteen set.
"My new show," he says proudly, "will have a song called 'Imagine' by John Lennon."
If the idea of the Aaron Carter version being the first one your kids hear evokes feelings of horror, there's still time to play them the original before the show. Whatever emotional resonance Aaron can bring to the song may come in the fact that being a pop star hasn't always been easy for him.
"A lot of my friends don't like me anymore since I became a singer," he says. "That happens with everybody, so ... I don't really regret it. I've got good friends."
Being that he came to fame so early in life, and he has a Backstreet brother and a sister, Leslie, who is also a teen star, the celebrity life is not much of shock to him.
"Well, I mean, this is a normal life for me," he says. "To other kids it might be un-normal. But their life to me is un-normal. I don't know anything else."
When he thinks about the transition into being an adult star, Aaron thinks about one guy who pulled it off: Michael Jackson.
"I'm actually pretty good friends with him," Aaron says. "He's a nice guy.
"I think I may be able to pull that off. All it takes is the talent and the heart. That's all you really need."
Now, about those Backstreet Boys tickets, how many does he think he can really get?
"Probably about a hundred," Aaron says.
And how many Aaron Carter tickets can Nick Carter get?
Aaron laughs. "He can probably get the whole stadium."
AARON CARTER
With: Lindsay Pagano and Dreamstreet.
Where: A.J. Palumbo Center, Uptown.
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Tickets: $35 advance, $37 at door; 412-323-1919.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Robert Ascroft/Jive Records: "All it takes is the talent and the heart" to become a star, says Aaron Carter, who will perform tomorrow in the A.J. Palumbo Center at Duquesne University.
