The Backstreet Boys: *RED FLAGS* We Missed.. | BJ Investigates

We have five very popular new guys here. The Backstreet Boys. Brand new group. New heart frogs, huh?

Oh my God, we're back again. Thousands of screaming fans packing the stadium tonight.

This group is very popular with young girls. They have sold over 10 million records. I'm a hometown here.

Backstreet Boys. Bye now.

Wake up, not know who you woke up with, where you were at.

scratches on your body and try to remember what happened that night. Lou Pearlman.

What he does is take teenage boys and turn them into rich, famous pop music stars. His musical sons used to call him Big Papa.

Now they call him a thief and a con man. That was probably one of the lowest points in my life.

Nick Carter was abusing drugs and alcohol so seriously that it actually led to a buildup of toxins in his heart.

Put down the 7-Up. Of course, it's on camera and obviously they don't drink.

It's also called the sudden death syndrome. And they actually raised me in a lot of ways.

You were guardian. How was this guardian? Legal guardian.

Welcome to BJ Investigates, a show I just created and might never do again. It's hard to keep track of what I talked about in the last episode. What was it?

Probably something about, uh, it was the Brittany Industrial Complex. Y'all go watch that. Thank you very much.

In today's episode, we're going to still stay a little bit along those same veins, but we're going to go back even a little bit further.

And today we're going to talk about the most successful, highest selling boy band of all time.

As usual, and it should really go without saying, please do not contact anyone in this video. Send them hate or love or anything else.

To be honest, just don't, don't contact anybody. as a result of this video.

The purpose of this video is to report on things that are out in the public and give my commentary. This is not legal advice. This is my opinion. This is my opinion.

Thank you. All facts are alleged. Innocent till proven guilty. The boy band model goes back a really long time.

Take five boys, put them in a band, girls will go crazy, and the five-part harmonies are catchy and nice to sing along to.

All the way back to the 50s, we have Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers.

The 60s and 70s would bring us bands like The Beatles and Jackson 5.

The 80s and 90s would bring us bands like Minuto, New Edition, and ultimately New Kids on the Block.

Up until that point, every new generation of boy band outperformed the last.

But no boy band in history has ever held a candle to the massive monumental success of the Backstreet Boys.

The band was conceptualized in 1992 by an entrepreneur named Lou Perlman.

And because of the band's success, many referred to them as the blueprint for modern day boy bands. In some ways, they're right.

But what many people don't know is that Lou Perlman didn't just stumble his way into accidental success with the Backstreet Boys.

He worked hand-in-hand, side-by-side with a powerful

team of industry insiders for years to

meticulously curate the image, sound, and attitude of the boys, grooming and shaping them into the megalithic pop idols they would become.

The Backstreet Boys hadn't even reached the height of their fame and success before Lou began curating his next project, NSYNC.

And he didn't stop there either. Through his company, Transatlantic Records, Lou created and managed more than a half dozen boy bands over the years.

All of them based off a very specific and effective formula.

According to a 1999 article published by CBS News entitled The Idol Maker, the winning formula is the following.

A young one, a cute one, a sensitive one, a jokester, a bad boy, and the older hunk.

All between the ages of 12 and 20. Never mind the fact that that's actually six and not five, but maybe one is supposed to cross over.

I really don't know. What are you looking for? You need to have the young kid that definitely has a cute look that the young girls are looking for.

Older guy has to have that older image. It's great to have somebody Latino who gives an extra flavor to it.

One guy has to have that GQ look. When the boy band craze began to dwindle, Lou took advantage of the public's new interest in reality TV competition shows.

and he created a show called Making the Band to create another boy band to add to his collection.

Hey, all you singers out there, Lou Pearlman, the mastermind behind such bands as LFO, NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, is looking for five talented young men to form a new band.

The first time I ever saw Lou Pearlman was when I was auditioning for Making the Band in Vegas. He comes walking out of the auditioning room.

Everybody's like, you know, that's Lou Pearlman, like, as he walks by. And this guy is the guy pioneering music on the radio right now.