Members of the mostly-female audience held up pink paper hearts in honor of Leslie, a gesture Carter acknowledged during the show.

Laura Codd, the fan who made the hearts, said they were also meant to thank Carter for not canceling the show.

“I made 100 of them and passed them out to the crowd … to show we love him and support him and we appreciate him still coming out and performing tonight,” said Codd, 26.

For the majority of the concert, Carter seemed upbeat, flirting with the crowd and cracking jokes.

But later in the performance, after returning to the stage following a short break, he used the song “Falling Down” to pay tribute to Leslie.

“I’ve never done this before and I never thought I’d ever have to, but I’d like to dedicate this song to my sister,” he said.

As he introduced the Backstreet Boys hit “I Want It That Way,” Carter told the crowd, “Let’s celebrate her life.”

A friend of Carter’s who attended the show from New Jersey said he was surprised Carter had decided to forge ahead with his tour amid reports that Leslie, 25, suffered an apparent overdose.

“He said he didn’t want to talk to anyone before the show, but to make sure I come backstage after,” the friend said. “He hasn’t talked to me about it yet but he seems fine.”

Source: People

Asked why, unlike N*Sync, Boyzone, Westlife and New Kids On The Block, they have no gay members, singer Nick Carter said: “I can’t explain why. I think a lot of the guys are in touch with their feminine side though, if that’s OK?

“We’ve definitely had a huge gay following at the concerts, and we love them. They know how to frickin’ party!”

Backstreet Boys are currently on a joint tour with New Kids On The Block under the name NKOTBSB and Nick says the pairing works well, because the two acts are so similar.

He said: “We come from two separate eras, but the similarities are that we dance, we sing and the songs were R ‘n’ B influenced.”

The singer also believes current boy bands should aspire to be like his group.

He added to Attitude magazine: “We come from an era of Take That, New Kids, N*Sync. I’m not trying to say we live in the past, but when you think about what we are, we’re the epitome of what it should be.”

Source: contactmusic.com

Thanks to Nick, Intern Adam and Andrew Fromm at twitter.

Bigger going to Hot AC radio in the USA starting Feb 1! You guys all ready to start requesting the heck out of it???

I just wanted to clear this up for anyone who may have gotten this email.

The follow message was posted by the boys on twitter before it was confirmed.

If the Micahel Jackson rumors are true, our hearts go out to his family + all his fans. He was and always will be one of our inspirations.