2008 Woodie Awards
Music Mogul Lou Pearlman Speaks at Rollins
Lou Pearlman, credited for the boyband craze in the late 90s, visits campus.
Angela Gonzalez
Issue date: 10/21/05 Section: News
On Oct. 12, Rollins College welcomed Louis J. Pearlman to its campus. He was invited by Professor Marc Sardy to speak to his Global Entertainment Business class about his experiences in the tumultuous industry that encompasses, but is by no means limited to Music, Film, Televsions & Sports entertainment.
Perhaps Mr. Pearlman's largest claim to fame is that he is credited with bringing back the boyband phenomenon in the late 90's. He brought the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync into fruition with a lot of his own investment after being repeatedly told it was a no-win idea.
Hailing from Flushing in Queens, NY, Lou always had music around him. His cousin is Art Garfunkel, who inspired him to take up guitar lessons and attempt to go into the music industry from the artist's side.
After not finding the success he desired, Lou decided to pursue another of his passions: aviation. Even at a young age, Lou noticed the need for a short passage into the city. After struggling to find investors, Pearlman found a source and was able to start Trans Continental Airlines. He chartered flights for many important people into New York City including then successful, New Kids on the Block.
Lou was curious as to how these young boys were earning in excess of $100 million through records, touring & merchandise. From this "discovery" he attempted once again to make it in the music industry except from a business point of view this time.
He moved down to Orlando in 1991 and began working on his new project with financial help from his already successful aviation/blimp companies. Lou invested about $1.5 million into the creation of the Backstreet Boys before seeing any return. He faced a lot of criticism and speculation in the Unitet States that this idea would flop so he took the boys over to Germany, where they became a hit reaching #5 on the charts and earning their first gold record.
Following their success in Europe, the Backstreet Boys returned to the United States and began the resurgence of the boyband popularity that took the music world by storm. Mr. Pearlman also was assembling the group N'Sync around this time who also went on to achieve huge success and earnings despite the belief that the boyband craze was only going to be a short-lived phase.
Perhaps Mr. Pearlman's largest claim to fame is that he is credited with bringing back the boyband phenomenon in the late 90's. He brought the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync into fruition with a lot of his own investment after being repeatedly told it was a no-win idea.
Hailing from Flushing in Queens, NY, Lou always had music around him. His cousin is Art Garfunkel, who inspired him to take up guitar lessons and attempt to go into the music industry from the artist's side.
After not finding the success he desired, Lou decided to pursue another of his passions: aviation. Even at a young age, Lou noticed the need for a short passage into the city. After struggling to find investors, Pearlman found a source and was able to start Trans Continental Airlines. He chartered flights for many important people into New York City including then successful, New Kids on the Block.
Lou was curious as to how these young boys were earning in excess of $100 million through records, touring & merchandise. From this "discovery" he attempted once again to make it in the music industry except from a business point of view this time.
He moved down to Orlando in 1991 and began working on his new project with financial help from his already successful aviation/blimp companies. Lou invested about $1.5 million into the creation of the Backstreet Boys before seeing any return. He faced a lot of criticism and speculation in the Unitet States that this idea would flop so he took the boys over to Germany, where they became a hit reaching #5 on the charts and earning their first gold record.
Following their success in Europe, the Backstreet Boys returned to the United States and began the resurgence of the boyband popularity that took the music world by storm. Mr. Pearlman also was assembling the group N'Sync around this time who also went on to achieve huge success and earnings despite the belief that the boyband craze was only going to be a short-lived phase.