Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli was a German R&B music act from Munich. The act was packaged by Boney M. founder[4] Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers,[5] with the two actual main studio singers, Brad Howell,[6] John Davis[6] and studio singers, Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco,[7] and Linda Rocco,[7][2] with an unrelated touring band. Their debut album, as All or Nothing in Europe, and expanded, including "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It on the Rain", composed by Diane Warren,[8] as Girl You Know It's True in the United States, achieved international success and brought them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990.[9]
Milli Vanilli
Munich, West Germany
- 1988–1990
- 1997–1998
Milli Vanilli
Fab Morvan
Rob Pilatus
Session members
Charles Shaw
Brad Howell
John Davis
Jodie Rocco[2]
Linda Rocco[3]
Frank Farian
They became one of the most popular pop acts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with millions of records sold. However, their success turned to infamy when it was discovered that Morvan and Pilatus did not sing any of the vocals on their music releases. Their Grammy award was revoked.[10][11][12] In 1998, they recorded a comeback album, Back and in Attack, but its release was canceled after Pilatus died the same year.[13]
Comeback attempt and death of Rob Pilatus, 1997–1998[edit]
The duo were featured and interviewed for the premiere episode of VH1's Behind the Music in 1997. To restore their careers, Farian agreed to produce a new Milli Vanilli album with Morvan and Pilatus on lead vocals in 1997, leading to the recording of the 1998 Milli Vanilli comeback album Back and In Attack. Some of the original studio singers even backed the duo in their attempt to recover some of the fame that had been lost so quickly. However, Pilatus encountered a number of personal problems during the album's production. He turned to drugs and crime, committing a series of assaults and robberies,[54] and was sentenced to three months in jail and six months in a drug rehabilitation facility in California.[55]
On the eve of the new album's promotional tour on 3 April 1998, Pilatus was found dead of a suspected alcohol and prescription drug overdose in a hotel room in Frankfurt, Germany.[56][57] His death was ruled to have been accidental.[58] Farian died in January 2024.[59]
Morvan's solo career[edit]
Morvan spent the following years as a session musician and public speaker while working on writing and performing his new music. In 1998, he was a DJ at famed L.A. radio station KIIS-FM. During this period he also performed at the station's sold-out 1999 Wango Tango festival concert before 50,000 people at Dodger Stadium. He then spent 2001 on tour before performing in 2002 as the inaugural performer at the brand-new Velvet Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando, Florida. In 2003, Morvan released his first solo album, Love Revolution.[60]
In April 2011, Morvan released the single "Anytime" on iTunes.[61]
In 2015 TMZ reported that Morvan was working on an album with John Davis, one of the original Milli Vanilli singers, called Face Meets Voice.[62] In 2016, he appeared in a documentary-style KFC commercial that focuses on his life and music career after Milli Vanilli.[63][64] John Davis died on 24 May 2021 from complications of a COVID-19 infection.[65]
Metadata
Individual artists involved