US pop star Aaron Carter ‘drowned in bath after taking drugs’

American pop star Aaron Carter accidentally drowned in his bathtub after taking drugs, a post-mortem examination has found.

The 34-year-old brother of Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter was found dead at his home in Lancaster, California, on Nov 5 last year.

His death was caused by drowning when he became incapacitated after taking sedatives and inhaling a compressed gas which “can induce feelings of euphoria” the coroner said.

The day before he died the I Want Candy singer was seen by police who were checking on him after he had been seen with an inhalant on social media.

His housekeeper found him lying unresponsive in his spa-style bath with the jets still on, and he was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Investigators found prescription bottles of pills and aerosol cans that he had used for inhaling.

Alprazolam, commonly sold under the brand name Xanax, and difluoroethane gas were both found in his system.

Carter’s first album came out when he was just nine years old, and he went on to sell millions of copies of his albums in the late 1990s and 2000s. His second album, Aaron’s Party, went triple platinum.

He supported the Backstreet Boys at various concerts and tours and he joined Britney Spears on her Oops!...I Did It Again tour in 2000. He also appeared on US Dancing With The Stars.

Carter had checked into rehab on several occasions, and had been in trouble with the law on several occasions, for drug possession and reckless driving. His son, Prince, with his ex-fiancee, Melanie Martin, was born in November 2021.

Nick Carter, 43, wrote on Instagram the day after his brother’s death: “Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded.

“I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed."