Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today (Nov. 8) – and for being early. Before we start, let me begin by saying I saw you and Jordan Knight at House of Blues in Mandalay Bay on Nov. 13, 2014, during your “Nick & Knight” collaboration – that’s nearly 10 years ago today! (I showed him, via Zoom interview, a tote bag from the concert.)
Wow, that’s incredible (laughs)! And I like to be early.
You’re currently on your solo world tour “Who I Am,” with two nights at The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip on Nov. 16 and 17. What can your fans expect?
A lot of fun – it’s a really fun show. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing Backstreet Boys music for so many years, I wanted to do more cover songs and tell a story with those cover songs. If you’re just a lover of music and love live performances, sometimes just hearing a song you’re familiar with is awesome.
We’re telling the story of my life using Backstreet Boys songs, cover songs and my solo songs starting with Jan. 28, 1980, when I was born … to who I am today.
The U.S. leg of the global tour started on Sept. 24 and is an extension of your initial tour run in 2023, which was extended due to popular demand. What have been some of the highlights of the tour so far?
There have been so many. I’ve probably done over 100+ shows worldwide by myself. I was in Europe for a few months. I returned to the U.S., went to Canada and South America. I have concerts scheduled for next year in Asia and Southeast Asia. The highlights have been the stories.
There was this really beautiful story in Germany when we first started where a full-circle moment came back with a fan of ours. When we first broke in Germany in the early 1990s, a fan who saw us back then returned. Unfortunately, she was sick and she wanted to thank me for being a part of her life.
I was able to say goodbye to her, and she was able to watch the show. She gave me this pendant she had gotten when she first met us in the 1990s, and I keep it in my lucky bag with things from my kids and items from around the world. So I take her with me everywhere I go.
Please tell me about your latest solo single releases “Never Break My Heart (Not Again),” “Made for Us” and “Superman.”
I’ve been sporadically releasing songs as they come. I’m working on a solo album, but it’s taking time because I’m touring a lot and I want to pour my life into the songs and music so that they’re coming from a personal place.
Music has taken on a whole new meaning for me in my life. I want it to mean something not only for me but also the fans who listen to me. I want to share that with this music. The tentative title is “Who I Am,” but that could change, and I have more than 14 songs that I have written and recorded.
Tell me about fatherhood and raising three young children in Las Vegas.
Both of my daughters were born in Las Vegas. My wife and I moved to Las Vegas in 2017 when [Backstreet Boys] got the residency offer, and I just fell in love with it. I have a great community of people here – of friends and family. All my kids go to school here – they have been for the past seven years.
I have my son in a baseball program in Las Vegas. I didn’t realize until I got here how big of a sports community Las Vegas is, and me being a big sports fan, I get to do all those things. When I’m home, the Nick Carter persona shuts off, and I’m just Dad to them taking them to school.
Las Vegas has been a beautiful place that I love.
Are they Backstreet Boys fans yet?
They know (laughs). We performed at The Hollywood Bowl on the last Backstreet Boys tour, and they came to that show. They’re a little bit younger, but my daughters were jumping up and down screaming.
The kids will be at the shows at The Venetian, and I’m really excited. They know what’s going on, but they don’t necessarily understand. My son is only 8 years old. In some ways, they really don’t care, and I’m totally OK with that (laughs).
I saw NKOTBSB at Mandalay Bay in 2011, and it was one of the loudest concerts I’ve ever attended alongside probably One Direction and BTS. What’s the best part about performing as a band or as a solo artist after all these years?
As a band, we are a team, and we’re able to trade off parts. We work as a group and support each other. We’re like family, and it’s a lot of fun. As a solo artist, I get a chance to pick up an instrument. I play guitar and sometimes play drums and write my own music. It’s a cool dynamic.
What’s next for Backstreet Boys?
We’re currently in very serious conversations of group texts and emails of what we’re going to do next. All I can say is that it is really heating up. Expect some big stuff on the horizon.
Would you do another residency on the Las Vegas Strip?
Anything is possible. It was awesome for all of us because most of the group lives on the West Coast. If I was performing in Las Vegas again, I could take my kids to school and then go to work (laughs). And that would be great.
Tell me about your national competition for a local artist to open for you in select cities.
I had thought about this before. I did a show called “Boy Band” years ago. The idea that you can mentor somebody or give someone an opportunity who doesn’t have a shot – most people are on TikTok and other socials, so it’s hard to discover these other people.
Why not give someone an opportunity to open on this solo tour? Somebody local in the cities where I’m performing. The first person I found was someone working at a breakfast place. … He opened for us that same night, and it was a really fun story. … Every single artist has a story.
A local Las Vegas artist is performing, I think, on my second night at The Venetian. I’ve been doing this everywhere around the country, and it’s been fun.
Tell me about your toy drive you’re doing with The Cure 4 The Kids foundation for your two Las Vegas shows.
I’ve been working with The Cure 4 The Kids for a very long time in Las Vegas. I’ve become very good friends with the people there. I’ve spent time there and meeting the children and the families.
It’s a foundation that holds dear to my heart because I have children, and I understand how serious diseases can affect families. Come to the show and drop off a toy in the box – that’s all you have to do.
Tell me about your Las Vegas listening party on Nov. 16.
Yes, it’s for the album I’m working on right now. I play a lot of these songs to get a voting, to see what listeners like the most. It really helps me to make a decision – to get a consensus.
What do you like to do for fun in Las Vegas as a resident now of seven years?
It’s so much fun for me and now my son, too, with all the baseball. He’s part of a club league, so we load up the truck and coolers and get his baseball gear together and watch his games over the weekend.
And when I have time, I love training MMA. I’ve been training at Extreme Couture for a long time. And I’m excited because I am an Athletics fan. I’m looking forward to that place being built because that’s where I’m going to be taking my kids. It’s amazing how things are blowing up in Las Vegas.
You’d think your fans would know everything about you at this point. Tell me one thing about you that your fans would be surprised to learn about you.
My fans know a lot about me (laughs). What would be surprising? They probably already know, but I’m a caring, loving father, and I’m very sensitive at the core.
Tickets: VenetianLasVegas.com and Ticketmaster.com
