Lou Pearlman

Lou Pearlman was a talent manager and producer best known for managing the so-called "boy bands" Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and O-Town. His greatest success, the Backstreet Boys, sold more than 130 million records, and they and *NSYNC logged six Top 10 singles each.

Pearlman turned his company, Trans Continental, into a music empire in the 1990s. He was also known, however, for running one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in history.

The impresario also appeared on television, in the series Making the Band, Behind the Music, The Surreal Life and the documentary Sex ‘n’ Pop. Additionally, he served as a creative consultant on the series Making the Band 2 and Making the Band 3. He also contributed as an executive producer on the series Big in America.

Additionally, Pearlman served as an executive producer on the films Longshot, Motocross Kids, Somewhere, Popstar (starring Aaron Carter) and Red Riding Hood (starring Henry Cavill).

Pearlman got an early taste of music superstardom — his cousin was Art Garfunkel, of folk-singing duo Simon & Garfunkel. Pearlman began his career as an entrepreneur in the late 1970s, when he founded a helicopter taxi service. He moved on to a blimp-leasing company, followed by penny stocks, before moving into music.

Pearlman died August 19, 2016, in Miami, Florida. He was 62.