Who is Lou Pearlman and what did he do? Exploring the true story behind Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam

Lou Pearlman was an American talent manager associated with some of the biggest names in pop music history such as The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and NSYNC. However, Pearlman's legacy in music history is tainted by his dark history of deception and fraud.

Pearlman was one of the largest music moguls in the 1990s and the early 2000s, credited for the formation of The Backstreet Boys. He was also running one of the most devious Ponzi schemes in the music industry for which he was convicted in 2008.

The upcoming Netflix documentary Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam explores Pearlman's web of lies. His exploitative methods deprived the bands of a large part of their earnings, along with scamming other investors in the process.

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Who is Lou Pearlman from Netflix's Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam?

Lou Pearlman was a native of New York City, born on June 19, 1954. He was the first cousin of the musician Art Garfunkel of the famous folk-rock duo Simon and Garfunkel. Pearlman tried his hands at numerous businesses before establishing himself in the music industry in the early 1990s.

He had his major idea when he witnessed the success of the boy band, New Kids on the Block. Lou Pearlman started a record label called Trans Continental Records to emulate the success of New Kids on the Block and went on a massive talent search. His extensive search resulted in the formation of the Backstreet Boys.

They rose to international acclaim following the release of their self-titled debut album in 1996. Since then, Pearlman catapulted to fame and used it to lure people into his devious Ponzi scheme, which was eventually discovered.

Lou Pearlman created some of the most famous boy bands, but he also exploited their financial gains

A poster of Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (image via Netflix)

An excerpt from the Netflix logline for Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam describes Pearlman as someone who "changed music culture forever". The excerpt is true when it comes to Pearlman's contributions to pop music in the form of the boy bands Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, O-Town, and Marshall Dyllon among others.

Lou Pearlman catapulted upon Backstreet Boys' success to create and manage some of the major names in the pop music industry at the time. However, Pearlman was eventually sued by each of the bands managed by him except for US5 and Marshall Dyllon. The bands sued Pearlman for misrepresentation and fraud once they found out that he was pocketing the majority of their profit while keeping the bands in the dark.

The series chronicles how Pearlman crafted a web of lies to exploit these musicians over the years. Never-seen-before footage and unique access to the artists in the documentary allow it to uncover Pearlman's dark secrets.

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Lou Pearlman ran one of the longest-running American Ponzi schemes

A 2007 Vanity Fair expose stated that in 2006 investigators discovered that he ran one of the longest-running Ponzi schemes in American history, resulting in a fraud of around $300 million.

For over two decades, Pearlman lured investors to invest extravagant sums in his record business, and his airline business. He used the fame of the bands and their success to persuade investors, however, some of his companies only existed on paper. He even ran a fraudulent investment savings program which he used to collect investments and even secure bank loans.

Pearlman was arrested in 2007 after fleeing from authorities for over a year. He was found guilty on the charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and making false statements about his bankruptcy and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2008. He died in custody on August 19, 2016, from cardiac arrest.

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Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam is scheduled to be released on Netflix on July 24, 2024. It is a three-part limited documentary series directed by David Terry Fine.