Alrighty, I'm sure you have all heard of Lou pearlman. And I'm sure you have all heard a horror story or two about him. Here's the lowdown on Lou and his allegid harsh treatment of his clients.
please note all information has been taken from reliable sources...such as the Backstreet Boys.
As you all know--or should know--Mr. Louis Pearlman runs Transcontinental (transcon) productions. Transcon is an establishment that finds artists, and accomodates them with choreographers/dance instructions, free touring, use of studio facilities, etc. And once the band has been trained, Transcon hooks them up with a record company. For Backstreet Boys it was Jive Records, and for *N Sync it was RCA. This sounds great and all, but really, once you've signed the contract, Lou Pearlman has complete control over everthing you do.
In other words, this is like making a deal with the devil. You get all you could ask for while on tour and while working, but you life belongs to him. One makes no decisions about what they do. N Sync does not decide when they tour, when the do promotional appearances, or when they produce an album. Johnny Wright and Lou Pearlman decide this. I believe they also have final say over music videos, as they were in the "You Drive Me Crazy" footage.
Now, BSB became fed up with Lou's dictator-like agreement, and they dumped him. The details remain unclear, but it boiled down to Brian Litrell's heart condition. Mr. Litrell needed heart surgery, and he had to schedule it around his work, he told Rolling Stone Magazine. After the surgery, he was allowed eight weeks to recover. This may sound like a lot, but we are not talking about a cold or fever here. When one has menengitis they are told to take six weeks off for recouperation, although many don't. Imagine, HEART SURGERY, and eight weeks later you're back on the road. Not just singing, but dancing too. Brian told Rolling Stone he had to have a breathing apperatice backstage at all performances because it was a lot to handle. It may sound like he's overreacting, but he should have had the choice whether he should continue touring or not.
Other reports say that the BSB were becoming angry Lou Pearlman was putting them on the backburner his new group, N Sync. This is how the whole Backstreet Boys/N Sync war began.
Also, The BSB allegidly claimed that Lou Pearlman was holding more money than he was allowed. Little of this matter is released to the public, however it is heard that Pearlman had close to a million dollars more than he claimed. There was a great team of attorneys used by the boys, and the case was settled out of court. The Backstreet Boys now manage themselves I believe, and seem to be doing fine with the release of the Oh-so-boring album, Millenium.
Now, "why am I writing all of this?" you ask? N Sync has recently been in a similar situation. Lance reports he has had the stomach flu and has been hospitalized. Well, that must have been one hell of a flu bug if he was in the hospital all weekend, unable to perform. There have been some reports of Mr. Bass having a heart murmur, which means his heart beat irregularly. It is a serious condition, and should not be taken lightly. However, Lance should be perfectly healthy if he gets the attention he needs. He was not given, in my opinion, adequate time to recouperate, as was not Brian Litrell.
Many girls have been talking about the shows Lance did not show up at. Some say both Chris and Justin cried, but tried to cover it up, and some say that the four boys would refuse to call it and N Sync concert, due to the fact that they weren't all there. They all make up N Sync, their voices, and their names at that. Lance wasn't there, so they were N Syc. An eerie coincidence I believe.
But perhaps I am reading to much into this. Maybe this is all rumor, just to stir up controversy and thicken the war between the BSB and N Sync. I don't know. I know none of this information first hand, except from what the Backstreet Boys have stated in magazined, especially the new Rolling Stone. Even that is not really first hand information, just reliable.
My solution? To Lance, Joey, Chris, J.C. and Justin: Dump Johnny and Lou. I understand they made you famous, and gave you all the necessities and more. They took you in, and did it all for you. But you don't deserve to be treated like this. And I am absolutely sure this would not be nearly as easy as it sounds. Look what the BSB went through, all that money, and they got spanked for it. Granted, this would not help the "copycat" image N Sync is give towards the BSB, that's the BSB's problem. If they can't understand why N Sync would want to quit Transcon, then they deserve to be shot. If their ego is that big they forgot all they went through...I will be so disappointed in them. But in all seriousness, I would rather see the 5 guys who I look up to, who I cherish as a huge part of my life, be happy and not be making millions, than upset and bitter, and celebrities around the world.
Yes, I know, I am WAY melodramatic, but really, this should not be taken lightly. Look at our boys, they're tired, and yet they're going back on tour for three months. They are way too good for us, so stop complaining Justin was a tad rude to you when you met him. He constantly puts up with screaming girls all day long, because he feels he owes it to you. I'm sure he doesn't mean it personally, he's just tired. They are all in quite a predicament.
