Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Lou Pearlman– Disgusting, Greedy Creator of Backstreet Boys, NSync, Dead at 62

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One of the most awful people in the world has died in jail. Lou Pearlman, 62, the disgusting, greedy creator of the the boy bands Backstreet Boys, O Town and ‘NSync, is dead.

Pearlman was serving time for a 2008 conviction for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $300 million. He was also alleged to have participated in unsavory acts against underage performers. He denied it. He was sued by almost all his acts in federal court for a variety of malfeasance.

Sleazy and sweaty, Pearlman had a stroke in jail in 2010. US Weekly says he then lost 75 pounds. Apparently that wasn’t enough.

Pearlman’s whole sordid history can be read here. I’m not putting up his picture because I can’t look at him.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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