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Dirty Pop: How Lou Pearlman's Ponzi Scheme Brought The World 'N Sync, The Backstreet Boys

The boy band scam is the subject of a new Netflix docuseries

Amber Dowling July 25, 2024 at 1:57 p.m. PT

There was a time in the 1990s and early 2000s when Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync posters adorned the bedroom walls of tweens and teens around the world. Boy bands reigned supreme, and their pop tracks were anthems for anyone coming of age. So it may surprise some that the man behind many of these famous boy bands was also one of the biggest financial criminals ever.

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam, Netflix's latest docuseries, sheds the glitzy costumes and sparkly awards to take a deep dive into the story of Lou Pearlman, a.k.a. The Sixth Backstreet Boy, aka Big Poppa. Over three episodes, musicians like Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean and Howie Dorough, 'N Sync's Chris Kirkpatrick, Michael Johnson and Patrick King from Natural, and O-Town's Erik-Michael Estrada recall their time with Pearlman and how he launched their careers while fooling them all.

The series also interviews some of Pearlman's former friends, journalists, and lawyers to get a fuller scope of who this man was. Thanks to the power of technology, the series also uses real footage of Pearlman and generates his voice and lip movements to read transcripts of his 2003 book, Bands, Brands, and Billions.

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From crashed blimps and lawsuits to suicides and an escape to Bali, here's everything you need to know about the shocking documentary and its biggest reveals.

Who was Lou Pearlman?

Lou Pearlman was an American talent manager and the founder of Trans Continental Records. He got his start chartering blimps and later airplanes, where he met famous musicians like Madonna, Michael Jackson, and New Kids on the Block at the height of their fame. When Pearlman realized how much money the boy band made in touring and merchandising, he decided he was in the wrong business.

It was then, in Orlando, that he put together his first boy band: the Backstreet Boys.

Which boy bands did Lou Pearlman manage?

Pearlman founded the Backstreet Boys in 1993, but it wasn't until 1995 that they released their debut single, "We've Got It Goin' On." The song peaked at 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 but became a bigger hit in Europe. As a result, Pearlman sent the band to Germany to develop and grow. During that time, they did interviews, performed concerts, and worked on their dancing and vocals. By the time they returned to America, they had really gelled as a band.

Seeing how this success played out, Pearlman decided to beat the potential competition and quietly formed 'N Sync. He put that boy band on the same trajectory as Backstreet Boys, catapulting them to fame in much the same way.

Over his career, Pearlman also managed O-Town, Natural, LFO, Take 5, Marshall Dyllon, US5, and Solid HarmoniE. He also managed Innosense, the short-lived musical group that Britney Spears belonged to in 1997 before going solo, and a few individual acts like Aaron Carter and Brooke Hogan (daughter of Hulk Hogan).

How did Lou Pearlman make his money?

Funding Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync cost a lot of money. The docuseries claims Pearlman obtained those funds by crashing his own blimps and cashing in on the insurance. But that money didn't last long, and when Pearlman reportedly made a terrible deal with Sony BMG for his two boy bands, he began using his artists to charm potential investors.

Everyone, from his friends to strangers, could invest with Pearlman. The documentary claims that, eventually, people would approach the mogul and ask him how they could get involved. But of course, it was all a Ponzi scheme, and Pearlman never invested the money.

Over his career, Pearlman also invested in random things like steakhouses and Chippendales.

Why did Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync sue Lou Pearlman?

After spending years touring and on the road, the artists Pearlman represented began to realize they weren't making much money. At one point in the documentary, Kirkpatrick recalls Pearlman handing him a $10,000 check. At first, the 'N Sync member was excited about holding so much money at once.

"Then the smart one named JC said, 'How much do you make in a year at Outback?'" he recalls in the doc. That's when they realized something was seriously wrong.

Both Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync sued Pearlman for misrepresentation and fraud and asked to get out of their contracts with him. Backstreet Boys claimed Pearlman had only paid them $300,000 for their work while he made $10 million.

Eventually, both bands succeeded in separating from Pearlman, but it cost them a collective $64 million to do so.

How much money did Lou Pearlman steal?

The exact amount of money that Pearlman stole isn't known, but it's estimated that he took people for nearly $500 million. Of that money, only $10 million was ever recovered.

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How did Lou Pearlman get caught?

Things began turning sour for Pearlman as those around him realized he wasn't as legit as he initially seemed. Pearlman's long-time friend, investor, and employee Frankie Vazquez Jr. confronted him about it at a dinner. Not only had he invested money with Pearlman, but his mother (who appears in the doc) had also invested, and he wanted her money back. Things took a bad turn, and in 2006, Vazquez died by suicide.

Meanwhile, Pearlman's lawyer from the boy band lawsuits, Cheney Mason, was upset that Pearlman had failed to pay his legal fees from the $64 million settlement. Eventually, he turned on Pearlman by filing his own lawsuit and contacting the FBI. They discovered deep bank fraud with fake accounting firms, forged statements, and an airline that supposedly never had any planes.

Pearlman fled to Bali with Johnson, who wanted to partner with him on future projects. Johnson claims he paid for everything on his credit card at Pearlman's request, not realizing he was helping a criminal. When Johnson witnessed Pearlman secure a fraudulent million-dollar loan, he had enough and returned home, leaving his former mentor on his own.

One day, a newspaper reader recognized Pearlman on the beach and called back home with the tip. The FBI came and arrested Pearlman.

How did Lou Pearlman die?

In 2008, Pearlman was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 25 years in prison. At the time, the judge told him that for every million he paid back he could knock a month off of his sentence.

In 2016, at 62 years old, Pearlman went into a voluntary coma to fix an infected heart valve replacement. He never woke up.

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam is now streaming on Netflix.