<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Lou Pearlman poses for a photo with *NSYNC circa 1996.Mark Weiss/WireImage</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Lou Pearlman was a music manager best known for launching the careers of *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.</li><li>He also signed artists like Aaron Carter and O-Town to his label, Trans Continental Records.</li></ul><p>Lou Pearlman has been described as a boy band whisperer who launched the chart-topping careers of *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.</p><p>Pearlman signed both groups to his record label, Trans Continental Records, in the '90s. Bolstered by their success, he continued discovering and cultivating talent, signing new groups and singers through the decade — even as his reputation crumbled.</p><p>Pearlman was sued by several signees for misappropriation and concealment of revenue. Justin Timberlake famously <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.thefader.com/2016/04/07/dr-luke-pop-producers-become-svengalis">said</a> that working with Pearlman was like "being financially raped by a Svengali."</p><p>Eventually, Pearlman's shady business practices caught up with him. He was implicated in a <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/13/lou-pearlman-was-disgraced-mogul-who-defrauded-s-boy-bands-then-came-million-ponzi-scheme/">$300 million Ponzi scheme</a>, arrested in 2007, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering, and bankruptcy in 2008.</p><p>Pearlman <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lou-pearlman-dead-7480171/">died in 2016</a> of cardiac arrest while serving his 25-year sentence in a federal prison. He was 62 years old.</p><p>Pearlman's controversial career and legacy are the subject of "Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam," which premiered Wednesday on Netflix. The three-episode docuseries includes interviews with Pearlman's former friends and business partners, as well as several boy banders and protégés.</p><p>Keep reading for a list of artists whose origins can be traced back to Pearlman.</p>