Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

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There have been a lot of Ponzi schemers but only one used his money to give the world the gift of boy band pop. That man was Lou Pearlman and this song is the epic story of his grift.

From the album The American Songbook: Redacted
on apple music: music.apple.com/us/album/the-ballad-of-lou-pearlman/1646865974?i=1646866465
on Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/78DWewDz32D7vIrOwaLPPr
on bandcamp: robprocks.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-lou-pearlman
on YouTube Music: youtu.be/1E1SGEWgEwM

Lyrics:
The Ballad of Lou Pearlman as performed

In the 90s all your pre-teen dreams
Had been funded by a classic Ponzi scheme
Money from financial malfeasance
Was used to find boys who could sing and dance

A guy named Lou had a slew of bogus companies
People invested but the money went missing
He said that he ran aviation companies across the nation
But he was straight up grifting
He used the money to begin a talent search
Founded agencies and labels in a blink
Hired coaches choreographers and chaperones
Soon he gave the world Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC

In the 90s every pre-teen dream
Had been funded by a classic Ponzi scheme
Money from financial malfeasance
Was used to find boys who could sing and dance

A middle class kid from Queens
Who liked helicopters and planes
Sold a blimp to Jordache Jeanes
But it went down in flames
He took the companies public through shady penny stocks
Had insurance and accounting forms but he forged all the docs
The transportation companies were barely real
The investment fund was where huge sums were lost
He lied to borrow money which he spent on record deals
like 3 million bucks in Backstreet Boys startup costs

In the 90s every pre-teen dream
had been funded by a classic Ponzi scheme
And since con men always thrive on reality TV
He started Making the Band on ABC

Eventually all of his acts would sue him
And authorities like the SEC would start to see right through him
He borrowed more and for a while was somewhat resilient
But in the end he’d taken over three hundred million

Word! The guy who started Backstreet Boys and ’NSYNC stole 300 million dollars! A hundred million from individuals!

In the 90s every pre-teen dream
Had been funded by a classic Ponzi scheme
Money from financial malfeasance
Was used to find boys who could sing and dance

If you’re wondering, the other 200 mil. was from institutional inverstors (just say ‘banks’)

In the 90s every pre-teen dream
Had been funded by a classic Ponzi scheme
Money from financial malfeasance
Was used to find boys who could sing and dance