After managing the two juggernaut groups throughout the ’90s, who are both noted as two of the best selling boy bands of all time, Pearlman was convicted of running a half-billion dollar Ponzi scheme in 2008, which included defrauding friends and family, for almost two decades. “#LouPearlman my old manager died in prison”.
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Pearlman was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with the condition that one month would be taken off his sentence for every million he paid back.
Justin’s bandmate Lance Bass tweeted: “Word is that #LouPearlman has passed away. RIP Lou”, while Chris Kirkpatrick wrote: “Mixed emotions right now, but RIP Lou Pearlman”.
Former *NSYNCer Lance Bass possibly said it best: “He might not have been a stand-up businessman, but I wouldn’t be doing what I love today [without] his influence”. Without Lou I wouldn’t have met my four brothers or had the opportunity of a lifetime. RIP.
Some members of Pearlman’s other bands, including Justin Timberlake of NSYNC and Britney Spears, went on to achieve major stardom with solo careers. “Karma is real”, he wrote.
Another of his former charges, O-Town’s Ashley Palmer, adds: “Love him or hate him, Lou gave many of us our start”.
Two years later, in 1995, he repeated the formula to create NSYNC. As NPR’s Rebecca Hersher told our Newscast unit, “Pearlman created the Backstreet Boys in 1993, after funding a talent search for young musicians in the Orlando area”.
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And it seems like the “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” singer is well aware of that fact too, as he took to Twitter on August 21 to mourn the loss of Lou, the man responsible for the creation of ’90s boy bands like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. From there, Pearlman’s Trans Continental Records became a hit machine, working with acts like O-Town, LFO, Aaron Carter, Innosense, and New Kids On The Block’s own Jordan Knight.
