Backstreet Boys' Dysfunctional Family'

September 22 1998
Newspaper Unknown

Thank you Backstreet Boys conncection for this artical!!

At this point, it seems the Backstreet Boys don't got it goin' on with their former mentor, record producer Louis J. Pearlman. Pearlman is credited as the man who nurtured the band's career from the start, hooking them up with an effective management team and, according to an Associated Press account of the tale, investing mucho dinero into their futures by paying for choreographers, wardrobes, voice lessons, and private tutors. Now Pearlman is seeking a return on his $3 million investment. The Backstreet Boys and Pearlman have been embroiled in a legal battle for some time now, including a spat over who has control of the Backstreet corporate entity. The Boys recently filed suit against Pearlman in a dispute over their reported $200 million earnings.

In a statement released last week, Pearlman explained, "The artists and management feel strongly that they are a family," and the litigation is merely a "family disagreement"—one that includes more than 20 lawyers and judges in three states. A lawyer for the Backstreet Boys, Judith Segelin, states that her clients have not received accurate accountings, and that Pearlman and his companies made "excessive amounts" of money through agreements that the Boys were "fraudulently induced" to sign. According to the suit (which is pending in U.S. District Court in Orlando,Fla.), the quintet received only $300,000 from their $10 million summer European tour. The AP report does indicate that there is a silver lining on the horizon: Apparently, the parties are close to settling, an agreement that would continue Pearlman's role "as part of the Backstreet family," Segelin said.

This has been a tumultuous year for the "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" singers. In May, member Brian Littrell underwent elective heart surgery to correct a congenital defect. After recovering, he joined his bandmates for an extensive tour and a stop at the MTV Video Music Awards, where they were honored with the Moonman trophy for Best Group Video. And just this month, the band had to cancel a concert in Minnesota after learning that Howie Dorough's 25-year-old sister had died of lupus.

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