Aaron Carter 'Distanced Himself' From Everyone Before His Death: 'He Had Demons'

According to a close friend, Aaron Carter “distanced himself” from everyone prior to his tragic death.

Erik-Michael Estrada, vocalist from the boyband O-Town, spoke to David Yontef during the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast on Wednesday and explained his and Aaron’s relationship. According to the All or Nothing singer, he and the 34-year-old grew really close over the years. They both rose to fame around the same time and were even managed by the same company.

Sadly, the pair’s relationship dwindled because Aaron was “gone for quite some time” mentally:

“The sad part is with Aaron is that he had been gone for quite some time, right? Like, even though he was still here, he wasn’t.”

Erik-Michael told David that the Aaron’s Party singer had pushed everyone away by the time of his passing:

“He had distanced himself from everyone, and he made it very clear that he didn’t want anything to do with a lot of people who really cared about him.”

So sad…

The 43-year-old described how his friend’s “issues” caused turmoil in all of his relationships:

“But he had demons, and he had issues that he was dealing with, and maybe some trauma, and obviously some mental illness. And when you meet someone like that … there were moments where you felt really distant from him. And those were sad.”

During a hard time in Carter’s life, the Liquid Dreams singer recalls reaching out to try and help to no avail:

“I remember having a conversation with him in a bathroom stall … and I’m like, ‘Dude, your talent is so much better than the tweets that you’re putting out, and I just want people to appreciate you for your talent and not these tweets’. And I could just see the distance in his eyes. I wasn’t really talking to the same guy that I had been talking to the week prior, you know, when we were at a couple of shows before.”

Just heartbreaking. And all this turbulence in their relationship left Estrada feeling hopeless:

“There’s these moments that are just distant, and there’s no answer to it. Like, there’s nothing I can do other than just be supportive.”

And Erik-Michael has already made plans to continue that support — next month himself, Aaron’s twin sister Angel, and older brother Nick Carter are going to be taking the stage at next month’s Songs For Tomorrow benefit concert: