Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to We're Talking.
Chapter 2: What role did Lou Pearlman play in the Backstreet Boys' success?
In this episode, AJ McLean and Cody Simpson pull back the curtain on the darker side of the music industry, where fame comes fast, but the consequences can last a lifetime. Hey there, I just want to share a content warning.
Chapter 3: How did the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC dynamics affect their careers?
This episode includes discussion of addiction.
Chapter 4: What is Lou Pearlman's legacy in the music industry?
If you or someone you know needs support, we've included resources in the show notes. Please take care while watching.
So the group though was found, was it Lou Pearlman? Lou was the entrepreneur that put this whole thing together. There was a thing that went around Orlando back in the day called the Blue Sheet, which was essentially the classifieds for entertainment.
Chapter 5: What challenges did Cody Simpson face with early fame?
And I was perusing through the Blue Sheet one day and I saw this banner that said, local entrepreneur looking to put together a vocal harmony group, all of boys to men meets new kids on the block. And I asked my mom and she's like, if you want to audition, sure. A couple of days later, I met Lou, auditioned at his house with my mom. Signed on the spot. On the spot? On the spot.
And then that was the beginning of now 33 years for me.
Chapter 6: What was the darkest period of Cody's pop career like?
So just on the business side, though, I mean, you are, so you're 15, you said? I was 14. You're 14. 14. So you're 14. Your mother hasn't been in the business. It's just you and your mom. Do you read what you're signing?
Chapter 7: How does fame impact mental health and addiction in young artists?
Is there any focus?
So then there was no... It was more like a handshake then. Okay. It wasn't until the group, the final group was formed that then it was, you know, signing a contract, making it official. Then we signed a record deal and all these things. But it took us three years to get a record deal. Wow.
Chapter 8: What coping mechanisms do young artists use to handle fame?
But we didn't, our parents and us as all young kids, Kevin was the oldest at the time. He was 21. Nick was 12th. So we were just excited to be doing something like this. So no, we didn't read the fine print. We didn't realize that Lou was one sixth of the band plus 25% commission as manager plus getting a kickback under the table from promoters. So he was triple dipping.
Wow.
Um, as well as hiding the biggest Ponzi pyramid scheme in record history that we didn't find out about till after we parted ways. Um, but, Yeah, it was insane. And, you know, we were the guinea pigs, really, because then he started NSYNC and then O-Town and this and that. So they all kind of saw our track record and saw kind of what not to do. By doing that. We were the guinea pigs.
We were the ones that had to go through hell and back.
So I don't know if this was rumor, but I've always wanted to know the answer to this. So Lou... Not leaves. Well, yeah, he leaves. You guys kind of kick him out. We part ways. He then becomes the founding or founder of NSYNC. Does he found NSYNC specifically to compete with you all, with Backstreet Boys?
I don't know if that's really at the epicenter of why NSYNC and him became something, but... We were told from, because we had the same management, we had the same label, same producer. It was Max Martin, Jive Records. We were told that they wanted to manage NSYNC so that they could basically manipulate the situation where, okay, if we have control of NSYNC, we can keep them out of your way.
But in turn, anything we turn down, they got. They got it. And essentially- Because we turned down a performance on Disney, NSYNC took it, and that was the kickoff of their career. JC and Justin had already come from the Mickey Mouse Club, so they already had a relationship with Disney. Right.
And they were on the Mouse Club with Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, so they all came out of that world. But had we done that show, I don't know if things would have happened for NSYNC the way they did, maybe eventually. But that was the catalyst for them. And then it just was like... this constant icky feeling for us. Like you're really shitting where you eat kind of thing.
Like this is our own backyard now. Like we're all from Orlando, same this, same that. And it became really frustrating. And that's when we parted ways with everybody.
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