Child pop stars now – addiction battles, naked snaps and tragic early deaths

Releasing a song that has stormed to the top of the charts is an impressive feat in itself – but to reach that milestone as a teenager is even more impressive.

But it’s fair to say that fame can change a person and when it happens at such a young age, it can have lasting effects on the talented young stars for the rest of their life.

And it’s fair to say that was the case for the late singer Aaron Carter who sadly passed away last month at the age of 34 following a lengthy battle with substance abuse.

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As his loyal legion of fans prepare to celebrate his first birthday since his tragic death, Daily Star have taken a look at where other popular child pop stars are now.

Aaron Carter

The troubled pop star first tasted fame as the younger brother of Backstreet Boys frontman Nick who soared to stardom in the late 1990s.

And the youngster soon followed in his brother’s footsteps at the age of nine after he began opening concerts for Britney Spears as his older brother up and down the country.

It didn’t take long before the singer decided to step out of his famous brother’s shadow after the blond bombshell gained a cult following of pre-teen and teenage fans.

On December 1, 1997, he released his first self-titled debut studio which spawned hit singles such as Crazy Little Party Girl, I’m Gonna Miss You Forever.

Throughout his successful music career, the teen singer made friends with some big names in the industry including none other than Michael Jackson himself who frequently offered him advice from the start of his career.

But it wasn’t always plain sailing for the singer, after the teenager faced multiple traumatic changes in his life during the peak of his fame when his parents divorced in 2004 at the age of 17.

Speaking at the time he said he “spiralled out of control” which sparked his addiction to cannabis that was only got worse after the death of his sister Leslie in 2012 after a devastating drug overdose.

The singer quickly went on to abuse numerous drugs and substances over the years, and was regularly spotted checking in and out of rehab.

In his final interview with The U.S Sun less than two months before his death, the dad-of-one claimed he was close to being “five years sober” although friends feared he had relapsed before his death.

Aaron’s cause of death has yet to confirmed by officials.

Britney Spears

In 1992, the Pop Princess started her showbiz career with her short Disney stint on The Mickey Mouse Club alongside fellow pop sensations such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosline and Keri Russell.

It didn’t take long before she won the hearts of the nation after she catapulted to fame with her 1999 hit single Hit Me Baby that stormed to the top of the charts just one month before she turned 17.

Britney had a staggering music career which quickly cemented her in the musical wall of fame following her MTV success at the Video Music Awards in 2000 before she launched her latest single, Oops! I Did It Again.

But behind closed doors, her life was less than perfect after the blonde bombshell abused prescription drugs on and off for years.

And things only went from bad to worse after she suffered a mental breakdown in 2007 following her split with her then husband Kevin Federline.

Fans of the pop sensation will remember one erratic meltdown which saw the singer shave her head before attacking photographers with an umbrella.

After several rehab stints she lost custody of her sons Jayden, 13, and Sean, 14, and was placed in a conservatorship which was controlled by her father Jamie Spears.

In recent years, Britney claimed her dad controlled not only her finances and career opportunities but also allegedly controlled her medication, her contraception and her relationships.

Since then, the singer has come on leaps and bounds and even went on to lift her controversial conservatorship in 2021 after nearly 14 years.

Now, the Crossroads star is happily married to her husband Sam Asghari, and has been sending her fans wild by sharing completely naked pictures of herself on social media.

To mark her taking back control of her Instagram account, Britney now never holds back with her content, and regularly strips off at home and at the beach and marks the occasion by sharing the evidence.

Demi Lovato

Similarly to the Pop Princess, Demi Lovato also started their music career as a young Disney star after they soared to stardom through their role as Sonny in the children’s 2007 hit film Camp Rock.

She went on to launch their music career following their success in the Disney film with hit singles such as This Is Me and La La Land in 2008 which later became quite the anthem for their young audience.

While the singer continued to top the charts with their hit singles such as Heart Attack, Sorry Not Sorry, Cool for the Summer.

But behind closed doors Demi soon found themselves struggling with their ever-increasing fame as they started a lengthy battle with substance abuse.

Luckily, the singer was quickly checked into rehab where they battled their inner demons which saw them relapse on several occasions before they celebrated a lengthy period of sobriety.

However, things took a turn for the worse when they broke their sobriety in July 2018 where they dangerously overdosed after taking heroin laced with fentanyl.

In their documentary series Dancing with the Devil, Demi explained: “I picked up a bottle of red wine that night and it wasn’t even 30 minutes before I called someone that I knew had drugs on the.”

Lovato went on to use drugs they hadn’t even tried before including methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and OxyContin.

Since their overdose, Demi described themselves as ‘California sober’ in which they drank alcohol and smoked marijuana in moderation before becoming completely clean just months later.

Miley Cyrus

Country singer Miley Cyrus first became a household name when she took on the lead role as a normal girl living a double life as a popstar on Disney Channel’s TV series, Hanna Montana.

Her time on the lengthy series – which ran until 2011 – and the pressure of being a role model for young girls whilst also battling with her own identity.

After she left the Disney show, Miley went on to dabble in acting where she went on to meet her now ex-husband Liam Hemsworth on the set of her 2010 romantic comedy, The Last Song.

The singer took her fame to new heights in 2013 after she took to the stage with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards where she was seen twerking in a nude underwear set with a large foam finger.

Soon after her performance, she and Hemsworth – who announced their engagement aback in June 2012 – called off their wedding and went their separate ways.

But that didn’t stop her from creating hit music as she went on to literally destroy her child star image by swinging naked on a wrecking ball in her 2013 music video.

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But her wild streak wasn’t quite over, as the Bangerz singer went on to share her affinity for smoking weed with a slew of snaps of herself smoking a joint on social media.

Following her on-again, off-again relationship with Liam, Cyrus shocked the world when she jetted off to Italy with her sister and Brody Jenner’s ex-wife Kaitlynn Carter.

The pair were soon photographed kissing during their getaway which sparked a highly publicized whirlwind romance.

Now it appears as though Miley may have settled down a little as she returned to her main passion, producing chart-topping country music and spending time with her family.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk