Milli Vanilli

Milli Vanilli was a German musical group, a musical project created and formed in Munich by producer Frank Farian. They consisted of Fab Morvan (born 1966) and Rob Pilatus (1965-1998). They were popular in the late-1980s.Their 1988 debut, Girl You Know It's True, sold more than 7 million copies worldwide and earned them the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1990. In the same year, people found out that the group never sang anything at all. Even at concerts, they pretended to sing (lip synching) while a recording was played. This created controversy and eventually led to the end of Milli Vanilli in 1990.

Milli Vanilli
Fab Morvan (left) and Rob Pilatus (right) with NARAS President C. Michael Greene, February 1990.
Background information
Also known as	Rob & Fab
Origin	Munich, Germany
Genres	Dance, new jack swing, pop, funk, hip hop
Years active	1988–1990
Labels	Arista Records, Hansa Records
Past member(s)	Fab Morvan Rob Pilatus

German producer Farian was known for using questionable methods. Often his performers were not necessarily the ones singing, as in the cases of Bobby Farrell of Boney M. or Milli Vanilli. This method, which was very common in those years in European pop music, was replicated in the United States by the group C+C Music Factory, who used a model in their videos and performances, while the original voice was, in some songs, by singer Martha Wash.

On November 15, 1990, Farian publicly admitted that Morvan and Pilatus were not the real singers of Milli Vanilli but were lending their likeness and lip-syncing to songs performed by other people, and on November 26, 1990, Frank Farian introduced the real singers during a photo shoot.

History

Creation of Milli Vanilli

Frank Farian was the creator of Milli Vanilli.

Milli Vanilli was a duo formed by the German break dancer and amateur footballer Rob Pilatus (1965-1998) and the French dancer Fab Morvan (1966). The two met in a Munich nightclub and teamed up as backup dancers for other artists, for example, Rob appeared on stage with the group Wind at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest and they both appear in the music video song for C.C. Catch, Soul Survivor. Additionally, that same year Rob and Fab formed the electropop trio Empire Bizarre.

At the same time, German producer Frank Farian, famous for his work with Boney M., was preparing a new musical formation to leave behind the disco sound of the 1970s. A DJ in Frankfurt handed him a vinyl record by Numarx, an unknown R&B group from Maryland, with the song Girl You Know It's True that was playing in US military Discos in Germany. On that theme song, Farian introduced new bases, musical instruments and voices that corresponded to the ex-military men Brad Howell and Charles Shaw.

Farian already knew Rob Pilatus from his work as a television dancer, so he proposed creating a musical duo with his friend Fab in which they would only have to dance, lip-sync and lend their image to the songs that Farian himself composed and others sang. The fact that Rob and Fab were black was an advantage, as Farian wanted them to resemble as much of an authentic American R&B group as possible and even though neither of them could speak English well, the producer chose them over the original singers because their image was "younger and more attractive". The contract was signed in January 1987 and Farian took charge of promoting them as a Boy band, taking advantage of his reputation in the German recording industry. The term "Milli Vanilli" is a reference to Frank's wife's nickname, although at the time it was marketed as "a Turkish name".

The studio singers were Brad Howell, Charles Shaw, and twins Jodie and Linda Rocco on backing vocals. None of them were listed on the European album booklets. Shaw eventually left the project due to disagreements with Farian and was replaced by John Davis.

International success

The single Girl You Know It's True was released on June 25, 1988 and became a Best-seller. In addition to achieving a Gold record in Germany, it was number 1 in Austria, Spain and the United States, and one of the songs of the summer in France, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Months later, Baby Don't Forget My Number, composed by Farian, Howell and Diane Warren, followed, which after being released on December 10, 1988, reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The acceptance of the European public motivated the American Record company Arista Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music, to hire them to release records in North America, and at that time the figures shot up to 7 million copies sold (Platinum record), partly thanks to the emergence of music channels such as MTV.

In Europe, the debut album All or Nothing was released in November 1988 under the Hansa Records label, while there was a UK-only version called 2×2 released in the year 1990 with an extra disc of remixes. Two more singles were released from that album Girl I'm Gonna Miss You and Blame It on the Rain. In the United States, the original album was reissued as Girl You Know It's True on March 7, 1989.

It is worth noting that the American version of each album expressly featured the names of Morvan and Pilatus as singers of the songs, something that did not happen in Europe and which would end up fueling accusations of fraud. In December 1989, soloist Charles Shaw told a reporter from the New York newspaper Newsday that he and another person were the real singers, however, at the time the accusation was not made public, Shaw said he was threatened by Farian with a lawsuit, Farian alleged to have paid Shaw to publicly retract his statement.

At first, Rob and Fab did not raise suspicions among the press because their fame was limited to Europe where Farian could control concerts and interviews. However, upon arriving in the United States they surprised with their level of English with a marked German accent unlike the American-accented voices on the album. The arrival of Arista Records caused Farian to lose some control over the duo, and they began to frequent parties, cause incidents, and show little musical interest in interviews. Against Farian's wishes as producer, Milli Vanilli agreed to go on a concert tour in the United States where they were on the verge of being discovered since at the end of 1989, when they were performing in Bristol (Connecticut), there was a playback failure with a loop of the chorus of Girl You Know It's True.

In January 1990, Milli Vanilli won three American Music Awards (AMAs) for Best New Artist, Best Pop Song (Girl You Know It's True) and Best New R&B Artist and on February 21, at the 32nd Grammy Awards, they were awarded Best New Artist. At the time, Rob Pilatus told TIME magazine about Milli Vanilli that "Musically, we are more talented than Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger."

Fraud discovery

Adding to the rumours about Milli Vanilli's real authorship was the fact that Fab and Rob were pressuring Frank Farian to record a new album with their own songs and vocals, very different from those on the debut album, Farian rejected the proposal outright because such a project would have meant the loss of creative control and he did not see them capable of composing. With the relationship between the two parties completely broken, the creator of the project decided to reveal the truth in a press conference in New York.

On November 12, 1990, Farian publicly admitted that Morvan and Pilatus were not the real singers of Milli Vanilli, but were instead lending their image and lip-syncing to songs performed by other people. The reaction in the United States was immediate, in addition to the disappointment of fans and the international repercussion, the organization of the Grammy Awards withdrew the award granted to Milli Vanilli in February although they kept the AMA only because it rewarded popularity and not artistic quality. For its part, Arista Records deleted its entire catalog, making it impossible to obtain new copies, and initially tried to deny its involvement in the deception. However, both Farian and the singers made it clear that the record company knew about it before the contract was signed. At the press conference where they returned the Grammy, the duo tried to blame Farian and Rob Pilatus apologized to all the people who might have felt cheated, Morvan later claimed that this practice of Playback was common in Europop.

Farian's revelation marked the end of Milli Vanilli and condemned its two members to artistic ostracism. While Fab Morvan had no problem adapting to the new situation and reinventing himself as a presenter or dancer, Rob Pilatus suffered from the loss of fame and even attempted suicide at the end of 1991. Arista Records faced up to 27 lawsuits for alleged fraud against dissatisfied fans who wanted a refund for their advance tickets and albums and had to agree to a court-ordered refund plan for tickets and albums.

Milli Vanilli after the scandal

Fabrice Morvan at a charity gala in 2007.

In 1991, Frank Farian launched the group The Real Milli Vanilli with the five singers who really performed Milli Vanilli songs, however, their album, ironically titled The Moment of Truth, was not as successful as expected and its circulation was limited to Europe. For the United States, in 1992 several songs were re-recorded by other artists and a reissue was made under the name Try 'N' B, which also had little impact. Due to its failure, this new group dissolved that same year of its creation.

As for Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, they formed the duo Rob & Fab and released a new album in 1992 that could only be released in the US due to budgetary restrictions, on this occasion they were the real interpreters of the songs. However, just under 3,000 copies were sold and the two stopped speaking to each other for a while.

Following the failure of Rob & Fab's album, Fab Morvan took up residence in L.A. and devoted himself to presenting radio shows and public events, in contrast, Rob Pilatus was involved in various crimes of vandalism, drug use and assault for which he was even imprisoned for several months in 1996. This episode prompted Morvan to resume his friendship with Pilatus and to pay for a semester at a detox clinic.

Pilatus returned to Germany penniless to undertake rehabilitation with the help of his family and Frank Farian. Farian had made peace with Rob and Fab and was planning to revive Milli Vanilli with a new album, Back and in Attack, on which they would be the original performers, however, on April 2, 1998, Rob Pilatus was found dead in a Frankfurt hotel of an overdose.

Frank Farian dedicated himself to the production of new electropop groups such as La Bouche and No Mercy within the Eurodance framework, although without repeating great successes in the United States, while Fab Morvan remains involved in the world of show business, in fact, in 2016 Morvan returned to perform as The Milli Vanilli Experience together with John Davis, one of the studio singers of the original group. In 2006, the record label Hansa Records released a Milli Vanilli Greatest Hits compilation.

John Davis passed away in May 2021, aged 66, and Frank Farian passed away in Miami, U.S. on January 23, 2024 at the age of 82.

Films

Milli Vanilli (2023)

On June 1, 2023, it was announced Paramount+ had acquired the documentary film Milli Vanilli, directed by Luke Korem. The film was shown at the Tribeca film festival in 2023. The documentary film received positive critical reviews, including Variety calling it a "Captivating and moving documentary" and that it "Brings off something at once strategic, artful, and humane". The Hollywood Reporter released the trailer on September 13, 2023, and the documentary had a global release on October 24, 2023.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "With clarity and compassion, Milli Vanilli reframes one of pop's most infamous scandals as a sobering cautionary tale". The documentary was selected as a critic's pick by both The New York Times and Variety. Both The Telegraph and The Times gave the film four out of five stars. Variety named Milli Vanilli one of the best documentaries of 2023.

Discography

Albums

• All or Nothing (1988)
• Girl You Know It's True (1989)
• The U.S.-Remix Album: All or Nothing (1989)
• Greatest Hits (2006)

Singles

• Girl you know it´s true (1988)
• Baby don't forget my number (1989)
• Blame it on the rain (1989)
• Girl I'm Gonna Miss You (1989)
• All or nothing (1990)
• Keep on running (1990)

Other websites

• Milli Vanilli Music Videos @ MTV.com
• MTV Artist Arena: Milli Vanilli Archived 2006-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
• All Music Guide entry for Milli Vanilli Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Fabrice Morvan's official website Archived 2021-03-23 at the Wayback Machine