Nickolas Gene Carter (born January 28, 1980) is an American actor, musician, and pop singer. He is a member of the music group the Backstreet Boys. In 2000, he was included in People magazine's list of the 50 Most Beautiful People. Carter was born in Jamestown, New York. His father, Robert Gene Carter, is of Jewish descent and his mother, Jane Elizabeth Spaulding, is a Mayflower descendant of Welsh, Irish, German, English and 1/4 Native American ancestry.[citation needed] His siblings include Angel, Leslie, Bobbie Jean nickname BJ, and singer Aaron. He also has an older half-sister named Ginger from his father's first marriage, a step-sister named Taelyn and a half-brother, Kanden, from his father's new wife.

Several years later, the family moved to Tampa, Florida and managed a retirement home where they added his younger siblings to their family. Carter began auditioning for acting roles in the early 1990s, and appeared in many commercials. He later made a tiny background appearance in Edward Scissorhands (1990). It is said that in several auditions, Nick met AJ McLean and Howie Dorough and they became friends. Later, they formed a mini-vocal group and started seeking a manager. As they found him, Lou Pearlman, he thought it most appropriate to seek for a fourth member. This was the chance for Kevin Richardson, who brought his cousin Brian with him. At the beginning, there was no success in the United States, even though the first single had been a hit on Orlando radio stations. Lou then marketed the Backstreet Boys in Europe, where they became commercially successful in 1996. To date, Carter has helped the group sell over 100 million albums.