The Hit Charade: Lou Pearlman, Boy Bands, and the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in U.S. History

by Tyler Gray

Without Lou Pearlman, there would have been no Backstreet Boys, no *NSYNC, and possibly no Justin Timberlake. In the late 1990s, Pearlman's boy bands ushered out guitar-and-angst-driven grunge music, and *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys began to dominate the television and radio airwaves. At the core of this squeaky-clean pop revolution was a sinister international fraud conceived by Pearlman, a husky huckster who first honed his crooked business skills as a teenage math nerd and blimp enthusiast in Flushing, Queens. From there in the mid 1980s and from his Orlando, Florida, base in the early 1990s through 2007, he cheated hundreds of investors out of nearly $500 million. When they finally caught on to him and started demanding he return their money, the “Sixth Backstreet Boy” had already fled to Germany and then to Indonesia, where he was eventually nabbed by authorities and charged with a historic federal fraud. Tyler Gray (the only journalist to speak with Pearlman while he was in jail) weaves together the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of the greed and desperation of this boy-band mogul and monumental scam artist. Gray unravels Pearlman's twenty-year long Ponzi scheme and explores persistent rumors about alleged inappropriate behavior by Pearlman toward members of the boy bands and other young men. Along the way, former friends, family members, Pearlman business associates, and band members themselves reveal detailed accounts of everything from the heyday of their stardom to Pearlman's more troubled times. The Hit Charade starts with Pearlman's awkward youth and follows along as his juggling act becomes increasingly complex, then builds to the heartbreaking moments when investors—retirees, relatives, and friends—and government authorities discover that the man they had trusted had been cheating them all along. How did this chubby boy from middle-class Queens, who pioneered some of the music industry's most lucrative pop ensembles, mastermind one of the largest and longest running Ponzi schemes in U.S. history? Here, finally, is the true story of Lou Pearlman's epic rise and fall.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, True Crime, Biography, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[no elle]

this would be fine albeit vaguely misogynist sensationalist reporting if half the book wasnt lazy gibes about what a fat piece of shit pearlman was like the man defrauded close to 2k people out of millions of dollars and financially (and likely sexually) exploited many naive young people and this dude thinks it's clever to fire off lil jokes about the man eating mcdonalds? i get it he's fat and wears big fat boy pants! that's reaaaaaally not the worst thing about him! so tedious lmfao grow up bro

[Amar Pai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much about dreamy Justin Timberlake as I'd like, but still an interesting tale. Lou Pearlman is a puzzling villain but there's no mystery to how he bilked countless investors out of their life savings whilst putting together saccharine boy bands and pretending to be a blimp mogul. (Seriously who dreams of being a blimp mogul?) No sizzling details here, just some competent reporting. He deserves all the jail time he got, and more. Probably he should be executed.

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of Lou Pearlman's half billion dollar fraud is one that needs to be told, but by someone who is able to write fairly and clearly. This book is bloated and repetitive, with the author adding his own opinions throughout. It's an almost tabloid-style report that skips over details about the forming of the boy bands and instead spends about 100 pages on the boring history of Pearlman and blimps! The book contains a number of errors, both factual and cultural. It also hints at Pearlman's sexuality in a gossipy way without having any solid evidence. It's only worth reading if you want minute details of his air corporations or want a text in how to trick people into believing everything that's on paper (for example, Pearlman used an "accounting firm" with letterhead that actually just a fake address and a phone line to his office--and no one ever thought to check out the documents!), but not if you want information on Pearlman and boy bands. Just as you can't trust anything Pearlman says, don't trust the cover of this book--it's not about boy bands but about a mentally ill huckster who showed how easy it is to trick gullible investors and get away with it for many years.

[Byron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The people giving this bad reviews are upset that it's not a book about the Backstreet Boys, which is understandable because that's what I always wanted to read. It's not half bad as a business text, though it's not completely without its flaws. It was obviously pieced together from court documents, newspaper articles and what have you. It's fairly thorough for what it is, but you don't really get an idea of what's going on inside the mind of Lou Pearlman, this despite the fact that the author was one of the few journalists to score an interview with the mogul/scammer after he was locked up. Also, it avoids too much speculation about Pearlman's (widely rumored) "proclivities," for fear he might sue.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

From 1982 to 1987, I was Artistic Director for a children's theatre group called the ShowStoppers. Howard Dorough was a member of that company. In fact, he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Jose in UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE. Howard was completely focused on what he wanted in life, even as a small boy. I wasn't surprised when he realized his dreams with the advent of Backstreet Boys. I knew Joey Fantine, J C Chavez and Lance Bass too. JC had dated one of my students for awhile so they would hang out in my classroom on occasion , waiting for her. They were all just normal fun loving kids and I followed their careers with great interest.

Thus, this book was a fascinating look at the beginnings of their careers and the influence of Lou Perelman on Orlando and the pop music genre. I remember going to Church Street Station, which housed Perelman's empire. The way this author tells the story illuminated some of the things I didn't understand at the time.

What Lou did to his boy bands was awful. And the Ponzi scheme that robbed friends, relatives and especially elderly investors was unconscionable. BUT, I believe that the "boys" have something to thank Perelman for; he recognized their talents and launched them into the universe.

[Bungluna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came across a reference to this book in an article I was reading and thought it would be good to go straight to the source to find out more about Lou Pearlman and his fantastic con. Sad to say, I learned more about the utter disdain this author has for pop music and its fans; nothing really new about the con, though.

I was particularly skived out by the constant insinuation that Pearlman was homosexual and liked young men, offering second-hand anecdotes instead of actual evidence. The way several people were characterized was also off-putting. With no concrete proof or source, was I supposed to just take the author's world for every thing he said? And what exactly does this have to do with the con?

This is more tabloid sensationalizing than actual reporting, in my opinion. I'll continue to search for a more factual account somewhere else.

[Mike McAdam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I didn't know much other than he was the boy band mogul. There is so much more to the story. My one and only gripe is that there is a very long forward as well as a first chapter that serve the same purpose... to set the current scene before going back to the beginning (which should have been chapter one with the foreword but is actually chapter 2 in this case). I love investigative journalism books (Bad Blood, Catch and Kill, that sort of thing). I can't get enough! The story itself is fascinating and sad. This book is fairly old so it doesn't have the end of the story but that is ok. I enjoyed it for what it is.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

in the end, the author is asking “how could a fat person possibly get away with this?” instead of asking a real question, like “how could ANY person get away with this?” 250 pages and apparently the only person who ever spoke to lou pearlman while he was in prison, and tyler gray never once stops to wonder what kind of a person pearlman was. but he was fat, so, probably evil. go to therapy.

i need to know what happened in the carter household though

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 4 out of 5]

What could you possibly say after reading this book other than Lou Pearlman was a delusional self-serving piece of shit who deserves to die in a jail cell?

[Pug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfathomable! It's hard to get a grip on the depths of just how greedy and dishonest Pearlman was.

Also, it was hard just to understand all the details written in this book of his crooked wheeling-and-dealings. I couldn't keep track of the names of all his sleazy cohorts and all his fake businesses. How did he keep track of all of his companies and all of his B.S.?

And yet, despite being an entirely confusing and fraudulent (and creepy) schemer... came the boy bands. He destroyed everything he touched, and eventually tried to destroy them, too. But fortunately for us 90's girls, they succeeded despite him. I hate thinking of Pearlman manipulating them, and thus, manipulating fans like me. It was strictly monetary to him, (everything was). But it meant something special to me.

Very very bizarre life of this disgraced music mogel. Turns out he was just a sad little worm.

[JDennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing tale of a man who lived by the "fake it 'til you make it" philosophy - even from the top of the pop culture ladder.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like three and a half stars -- very readable prose, and an interesting subject (then again, I was 16 when the boy band wave hit big, so I might be biased...). I wish there had been more about what actually made Pearlman tick, though. On the one hand, I can see why that wasn't a huge part of the book (beyond some pretty simple "he liked being liked" speculation), since there weren't any primary sources that covered that so it would be speculation and conclusions drawn from what documents do exist; on the other hand, without it, the book feels a little lacking. Pearlman is a larger than life figure (he clearly needed to be to pull of everything he did), so not getting more into why he did these things is disappointing. But heck, I have an abysmal track record with finishing nonfiction and I still tore through this, so I can't really complain.

[Vince · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick fast read. In these Ponzi schemes it always amazes how people get suckered in when the whole thing is such a convoluted mess. Twenty years of nutiness with this joker and of course as in the madoff case the ignored calls to the SEC and in this story the FDIC. It's almost like they just don't want to impede these fellows.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a very interesting read because I was obsessed with boy bands as a young girl. I've heard about all of the bands they talk about and wanted to know what happened. Now I have an idea of what happened.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this account of the fraud(s) perpetrated by Lou Pearlman; turns out his boy band schemes were only the tip of the iceberg. The book deals mostly with financial issues so it will disappoint those looking for information about Justin Timberlake and other pop stars.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's an entertaining bio

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read about a ...colorful... character in a colorful business. Have read before from the library, just picked up a kindle edition during a sale. Worth a re-read.

[Poncho Plum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography on a world class con-man who delved deeply into the world of boy bands.

[sTACY zUKOVSKY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good

Read for a paper that I was writing for school. It had a lot of good information about Lou Perlman.