Though he's still two years shy of drinking age, the youngest Backstreet Boy knows about performing at the kind of gin joints where rockers often get their start- only he started before he could even talk! Born on January 20, 1980, in Jamestown, New York, Nick spent his early years helping his parents and grandparents run a popular dance club known at the Yankee rebel, where he first showed his moves to an audience.

"We had a little dance floor at the Yankee Rebel," Nick says. "and my dad and DJ and played records. When I was really small, I used to get up there in my diapers and dance around."

He loved the attention, but he never got the chance to be the clubs headliner. When Nick was six and his little sister Bobbie Jean (BJ) was two, their parents decided to head down south. "They thought maybe I'd be cool to move down to Florida and start a different busines." Nick says in a self-pinned bio for the press. "So they packed up their old Cadillac El Dorado, loaded all of our stuff into a little trailer, and we took off."

The Carter family's first home in the sunshine state was in a retirement community, for which his parents worked. Thre he and BJ made their own fun -- as least Nick remembers as fun. "Me and BJ used to get into so much mischief, it was so funny," Nick says. "One of my favorite things to do in the backyard was to go swing on the hammock we had. I'd have BJ on it, and I'd twist her up in it and let her go and watch her spin. She kept spinning until she'd get all dizzy, then she'd go tell mom. This was a really big backyard and the senior citizens really didn't care what we did."

The Carter family continued to grow, providing Nick with even more victims for his mischief. First came another sister, Leslie, and then twins - and sister Angel and a brother named Aaron. In Nick's opinion, the addition of his younger siblings made life better for him. "I guess you could say it was a happy change, because now I have lots of siblings. My dad, who's an only child, got all the attention [from his parents when he was a little kid], but he made to make friends. I could make friends, but I knew I always had someone to play with and hang out with."

    Phantom Nick

While attending elementary school, Nick took his first stab at acting, starring in a school production of The Phantom of The Opera. Nick wasn't the directors first choice for the role of the phantom, but when the student who was originally picked discovered that he couldn't reach the nessesary notes, Nick was asked to take over. By the time opening night roled around, the director and many others were convinced that Nick had special talent. Nick's mom, Jane was one of the believers, and she agreed to allow Nick to develope his talent, which included doing a cable television show.

When the family moved again in the following year to the Orlando area, an entertainment boom town thanks to the presence of Disney World and Universal Studios, Nick found himself in a new elementary school. But he never really got to feel at home at this school because he'd begun to seriously pursue his dream of being a performer, which often kept him out of class (he worked with tutors to keep up with his studies). "I did play and commercials and sang in a few places," he says. "I did commercials for the Lottery and the Money Store. I really decided that I wanted to be a performer. So I auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club show and the Backstreet Boys."

And he got both gigs, which left Nick witha huge decision: dancing and singing with Mickey or hitting the road with the boys. Naturally he chose Mickey Mouse.

Then he changed his mind.

It was a tougher call than one might think now. After all, the Mickey Mouse Club was known for launching careers (Britany Spears is the latest Mouse alum to make it big). As for the Backstreet Boys... well, the group didn't even have a record deal. The act had informally begun when pals Nick, AJ and Howie had gotten together to practice harmonizing, but when the nabbed the attention of a manager, they had to formally audition -- then they had to take on two more members. Dispite the groups uncertain prospects, 13-year-old Nick could recognize talent -- and he saw it in Kevin, AJ, Howie and Brian. Ultimately, with his parents' support, he decided to be a Backstreet Boy.

"It was kinda scary," Nick admits. "There were meetings and talk about what it would take for the Backstreet boys to get a record produced. We sang at local malls and in local places. On the road, I turned out to be the one who slept the most. AJ ate the most - and I pulled the most practical jokes."

But those first couple of years weren't all fun and games for the young singing group. "A big lesson that we learned," he told the press, "is that it's not as easy as it looks. We first thought that you sign a contract, you get to go into a studio and you're handed a big check. It's not really like that. It's a lot of hard work. In the end, hopefully, things will pay off. But I mean, it's really not as easy as it seems."

It was indeed a lot of work, and after two years and very little success, there were times the boys questioned whether they were about to get their big break. But their break did finally come when their second single went gold on Germany. After a sell-out tour overseas, they returned home, where the America public was ready for their special brand of music.

   The life Of A Star

On those rare occations when he isn't touring or in the studiom Nick loves with the rest of his family in Tampa Bay, Florida, and escapes from it all on a new boat he purchased for himself.

"I fill the engine with petrol and just head out to sea." he told foreign press. "The Florida Keys are the greatest stretch of ocean in the world, with lots of small islands you can stop off at. Many times I've played football on the beach with my brothers and sisters. A lot of the time I go on the boat alone. Being alone, with the silence of the sea, is such an escape from the constant pressure of being on tour. It's something I need to do - just get away from it all. To me the Florida keys is paradise on earth."

So does he take girl out on his boat? Sure, but it's not what you think. "We swim in the sea and play around, but I never try to kiss them," he said of bringing girls on board. "That's the way I prefer it [right now]. I really don't want to fall in love yet. I prefer to wait a little bit. To be honest I've never fallen in love. I've just never felt this strong sensation. Of course, in the past, there have girls who were important to me. I went out with this girl called Bryn for about a year. The dau I find the girl of my dreams, I will spoil her rotten. It'll just be about us. Faithfullness is very important to me. I couldn't go out with a girl who liked other guys. And I would be incapable of cheating on my girlfriend. I wouldn't be able to look at her straight in the eye. When I have a girlfriend, I won't even have to look at other girls."

The impression Nick gives is of a sweet guy who's had his heart broken in the past. "Not exactly," he says. The problem was before he became a Backstreet Boy, he never had the chance for his heart to be broken. "When I was in school, I used to look at all the pretty girls and wish they'd go out with me, but they were only interested in the cool guys who were into sports. I wasn't very popular in school. The girls just didn't want to know me. Now the first thing that I look for is a girl with a good heart. Looks definatly come in second. It taught me not to judge people by their look -- it's what inside that counts."

While love isn't at the top of his list now, this thoughtful Boy does have a few things that he wants to accomplish outside of the group. One of them is to use their singing stardom to make the big jump to the big screen... not only to act, but he feels he's ready to take it to the next level.

"I want to be a movie actor," he told the press. "I woudl love to do an action movie. It's got to be action! I would also like to direct a movie."