Lou Pearlman, svengali of Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, dies in jail

UPDATE:Lou Pearlman died from an infection of the inner lining of the heart

Lou Pearlman, the creator of hugely successful US boy bands Backstreet Boys and *N sync died in jail on August 19 at the age of 62. Cause of death was not immediately known.

He was serving a 25-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to running a $300 million Ponzi fraud scheme. A diabetic, he suffered a stroke in 2010 from which he never recovered.

In 1993, Pearlman created the Backstreet Boys in Florida in 1993. He brought together five unknown singers – Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Howie D, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell – who went on to become the most successful boy band in history with sales of 130 million. They had six Top 10 singles and nine Top 10 albums in the US.

Two years later ‘Big Poppa’ repeated the success with N’Sync, which enjoyed four Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles and propelled Justin Timberlake to superstardom.

N’Sync’s Lance Bass tweeted on the weekend, “He might not have been a stand up businessman, but I wouldn’t be doing what I love today without his influence.” N’Sync’s Chris Kirkpatrick added, “Mixed emotions right now, but RIP Lou Pearlman.”

Pearlman also had his own MTV show, Making The Band, from which another boy band, O-Town, emerged from the first season. They had a single and an album in the Top 10.

Surrounding himself with the trapping of success including a private jet and a 16-square metre mansion, there were rumours that made it into a Vanity Fair piece, that Pearlman sexually abused young men whom he hired as drivers and to whom he promised stardom. He denied the allegations.

But in 2006 he was accused of a $300 million fraud scheme through his Trans Continental companies, defrauding thousands of people and ten banks. He conned investors’ confidence with fake financial statements created by a fictitious accounting firm.

Pearlman fled to Indonesia but was caught a year after. In May 2008 he was jailed for 25 years, The judge told him he would shave a month off the sentence for each $1 million he returned, Pearlman did not take up on the offer. Two years ago he told a magazine, “I deeply regret what happened … and I’ll be back.” He was scheduled for release in 2029.

Louis Jay Pearlman was born in Flushing, New York, in 1954, the only child of a Jewish dry-cleaner owner. He had an early glimpse of music stardom: his first cousin was Art Garfunkel of Simon & Garfunkel. He graduated from college in the late ‘70s, and set up a helicopter taxi service and a blimp leasing company plagued with accidents.

After moving to Orlando, Florida, he put an ad in the local newspaper for unknown singers, sinking millions of dollars into Backstreet Boys. Other acts he managed included LFO, Aaron Carter, Jordan Knight, Take 5, and girl group Innosense which for a short period included an unknown Britney Spears. Every single one of his acts, except boy band US5, left him, suing him for fraud and misrepresentation and claiming he took most of the money they made. Backstreet Boys bitterly claimed they had only received $300,000 from the millions they generated.