Lou Pearlman's Cause of Death Was Related to His Heart

Lou Pearlman Died While Incarcerated With 13 Years Left on His Prison Sentence

"You felt like an artist for the first time, without anyone’s hands in it for the first time."

Published July 23 2024, 8:31 a.m. ET

There are many different flavors of fraudsters. There is the Elizabeth Holmes type, who claims she got in a little over her head. Then you have the Anna Delvey variety, who appear to be in it for the love of the game. Some people scam out of desperation while others are simply greedy. They will never be satisfied.

By all accounts, music mogul Lou Pearlman falls under that last category. He rose to prominence and semi-fame after creating bands like the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. Pearlman then stole from them, and many others. The former record label owner eventually "plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy, and fraud in 2008," per ABC News, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He passed away eight years later. Here's what we know about his cause of death.

What was Lou Pearlman's cause of death?

According to The New York Times, Pearlman died from a heart attack on Aug. 19, 2016, at the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami. He was 62 years old. Almost every article about his passing made sure to put his crimes front and center, often describing Pearlman using the word disgraced.

Despite that, two members of NYSNC were more gracious towards their former manager. In a since-deleted tweet, Lance Bass said, "He might not have been a stand-up businessman, but I wouldn’t be doing what I love today without his influence," reported Billboard. Justin Timberlake wrote, "I hope he found some peace. God bless and RIP, Lou Pearlman."

How much did Lou Pearlman steal?

Using a classic Ponzi scheme, Pearlman stole $300 million dollars. Evidently, the first indication that everyone was screwed happened at Los Angeles steakhouse in 1999. At this point, NSYNC's first album had sold 10 million records, so Pearlman took the band out to celebrate. They couldn't have done that on their own as each member was still capped at $35 per diem.

As the boys were presented with checks from Pearlman, dramatically sealed in envelopes, they couldn't wait to see how rich they were. "I’m thinking I’m the king of the castle at this point," said Chris Kirkpatrick in the documentary The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story. Disappointment couldn't begin to describe what they felt as they all counted four figures in their checks. How could this be? Most of their songs were chart-toppers. Everywhere they went, teenage girls screamed their names.

"Not to sound ungrateful," said Lance, "but when you compare it to how many hours we had put into this group for years, it didn’t even touch minimum wage." This wasn't even the tip of the fraud iceberg as for over 20 years, Pearlman had been "defrauding thousands of investors in a fictitious airline he created in Orlando for more than $300 million," per The Washington Post.

One of the few good things to come of this situation was NSYNC's second album, No Strings Attached, which was referencing their freedom from the fraudster. "It was a big f-you to Lou Pearlman every time we did it [performed]," said Lance to The Post. "You felt like an artist for the first time, without anyone’s hands in it for the first time."

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