Nick got a huge break when he joined a vocal quintet of singers in the mid 90s in Orlando, Florida. The group was composed of himself, Kevin Scott Richardson, Brian Thomas Littrell, Alexander James (AJ) McLean, Howard (Howie) Dwaine Dorough by former New Kids On The Block tour manager Johnny Wright and his wife Donna. The group first broke through by touring Europe in 1995 where there song, We've Got It Goin' On became a hit in Germany. From there the success penetrated through the rest of Europe and in the UK the following year, where they hit #14 on the British charts with Get Down (You're The One For Me). Earlier re-released hits even did better in the UK which paved way for their self titled album in 1996 and their follow-up Backstreet's Back in 1997. There hit Everybody (Backstreet's Back) broke through in the US hitting #4 in June of 1998, followed by hits like Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) and As Long As You Love Me. The US version of their self-titled album compiled songs from their first two albums in Europe and was the third highest selling album in 1998. Following the hit I Want It That Way, the boys released Millennium, which at the time was the most successful 1st week album seller of all time and in November 2000, the group released the fastest selling worldwide album, Black & Blue, which cleared over 5 million copies worldwide its first week out.

Some controversy amongst the group erupted when Kevin Richardson admitted Nick would beat him and AJ. Kevin reveals, "I've tried to give him advice... It just gets him mad. He's hit me in the face. He's a good guy but he's gone through a swinging stage." All this aside, the group appears to be as close as ever after all they've been through, with Richardson admitting, "I'm proudest of the fact that out of all the crap we've been through - the change in management, the situation with Pearlman and everything that happened to us in the hellacious year and a half - we still came out on top." There also remains some bitterness for Pearlman's other former act, *NSYNC. Nick complained, "Well I think if there wasn't a Backstreet Boys there wouldn't have been an *NSYNC!" and referred to the rival band's music as "less vocally challenging." An argument can be made though, that the depth the similar sounding bands created helped sustain this 'boy-band' genre beyond what many music insiders thought was possible.

Nick's love life is relatively hard to gather much information from. Preferring to keep it on the down-low, Nick's only publically identified girlfriend has been Mandy Willaford, an fellow artist perhaps most known for her frequent name changes besides her relationship with Carter. Though there relationship had frequent breakups, Nick admitted recently that the two have split for good. Nick revealed, "It came to the point where I didn't want the responsibility, you know, always having to call up. I needed to concentrate on the group and the album." Carter also admitted, "Relationships are beautiful but sometimes it is a lot of stress and it's not necessarily anyone's fault, it's just the way relationships are." He also has been linked to Britney Spears and several hard-to-be-believed groupies who've posted their intimate encounters on GroupieCentral.com. 

Since he moved out of the LA home he bought for his parents, Nick's returned to Florida though details which were published in the Enquirer have been disputed by Carter, calling the reports overblown and from disgruntled former employees of the family. Carter says he still loves his family and always will adding, "I want to make it clear once and for all that I love my brother and four sisters dearly, and support them in their talents in every way I can."