Summary
Netflix’sDirty Pop: The Boy Band Scamdetails the crimes and schemes of Lou Pearlman, a talent manager, and Michael Johnson, one of Pearlman’s clients in the late 1990s to early 2000s, is featured in the docuseries.Pearlman discovered the boy band Natural,which consisted of Johnson (drums), Ben Bledsoe (vocals and bass), Marc Terenzi (vocals and guitar), Michael “J” Horn (vocals and piano), and Patrick King (guitar). The group signed with Transcontinental Records, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, while Natural was successful in its own right, the band never reached the heights of Pearlman’s other clients — the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC.
On Jun 21, 2025, Lou Pearlman died from cardiac arrest while in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida, at the age of 62.
The Netflix documentary seriesDirty Pop: The Boy Band Scamchronicles Pearlman’s entire career and includes interviews with several of his former clients aside from Johnson, including Chris Kirkpatrick, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Patrick King, and Erik-Michael Estrada. Pearlman’s criminal antics affected many people over the course of his career, as detailed inDirty Pop. However,one of the people who stuck by Pearlman’s side until the days leading up to his arrest in 2007 was Johnson,who also serves as an executive producer on the Netflix docuseries.
Michael Johnson Rejected Lou Pearlman’s Plan To Join The “New Natural” Band
Natural Broke Up In 2004
Asrevealed in Netflix’sDirty Pop: The Boy Band Scamdocumentary, after Natural broke up in 2004, Lou Pearlman wanted to continue working with Michael Johnson. As Johnson said, he and Pearlman were going to start a business together that included signing alternative bands and venturing into the world of TV. Instead of Pearlman acting as Johnson’s manager, they were more like partners. However, that business seemingly never really took off, and Pearlman approached Johnson with a proposition — continue playing drums with Natural, now titled New Natural. Unfortunately,Johnson did not want to relive his pastand wanted to move forward.
1993 – present
*NSYNC
1995 – 2002, 2023 – present
1995 – 2022
LFO
1995 – 2002, 2009 – 2010, 2017 – 2018, 2024 – present
1996 – 2000, 2014
1997 – 2001
1997 – 2004
1997 – 2003
O-Town
2000 – 2003, 2013 – present
Johnson rejected Pearlman’s proposal to join New Natural(which apparently never became real or obtained any form of success based on the little information on them on the internet). Johnson’s former bandmate Patrick King had previously agreed to pick up where Natural left off, but he might have been the only one. As a result, Natural was left in the past, and Johnson looked ahead to newer and better things.
Michael Johnson & Natural’s Mike Castonguay Formed The Band Lukewarm Freeda
Johnson Still Drums For Lukewarm Freeda
Michael Johnson still wanted to continue pursuing music even after he rejectedDirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam’s Lou Pearlman’s proposal to join New Natural. So, he teamed up with Mike Castonguay (Natural’s former producer and musical director) to create the band Lukewarm Freeda in 2005. Castonguay was the band’s lead singer and guitarist, whileJohnson continued playing the drums(an instrument he learned in order to join Natural).
Currently, [Michael] Johnson is playing the drums for New Beat Fund, which was formed in 2011 in Los Angeles, where Johnson resides.
Since the band’s formation in 2005,Freeform Freeda has released two albums—Downtown LoveandMike Castonguay.Downtown Lovedebuted in 2008 and consists of seven tracks, including the song, “I’m Gonna Break You,” which was featured in the CW supernatural teen drama seriesThe Originals.Additionally,Downtown Lovecontained a single,Little Miss Get Around, which was featured onVeronica Mars. Then,Mike Castonguaywas released 12 years later in 2022 and includes 32 songs. However, outside Lukewarm Freeda, Johnson has worked with a plethora of other bands and musical artists since leaving Natural.
Before Netflix’s New Crime Doc, Watch Disney’s Hilarious Parody Of The Same Story
The Netflix docudrama Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam reflects on Lou Pearlman almost a decade after a Disney cartoon parodied him.
Where Natural’s Michael Johnson Is Today
Michael Johnson Is 42 Years Old
Aside from still drumming for Lukewarm Freeda, Michael Johnson has worked with other bands such as Terenzi (former Natural bandmate Marc Terenzi’s band) and New Beat Fund. Currently,Johnson is playing the drums for New Beat Fund,which was formed in 2011 in Los Angeles, where Johnson resides. The other band members include Jeff Laliberte, Paul Laliberte, and Shelby Archer. Of course, Johnson also most recently worked on producingthe non-true crime Netflix documentaryseriesDirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam, and he has been dating actress Anna Camp since 2020.
Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam
Lou Pearlman, the mastermind behind some of the biggest boy bands of the ’90s, rises to fame by creating groups like the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and O-Town. The docuseries delves into his exploitation of these bands, revealing the darker side of his legacy, including accusations of fraud and manipulation.
