Milli Vanilli

Milli Vanilli
Fab Morvan (left) and Rob Pilatus (right) with NARAS president C. Michael Greene (center), February 1990
Fab Morvan (left) and Rob Pilatus (right) with NARAS president C. Michael Greene (center), February 1990
Background information
Also known asRob & Fab
OriginMunich, West Germany
GenresR&B[1]
Years active
  • 1988–1990
  • 1997–1998
Labels
Spinoffs
Past membersFab Morvan
Rob Pilatus

Milli Vanilli (/ˈmɪli vəˈnɪli/ MIL-ee və-NIL-ee) was a German duo R&B music act from Munich. The act was created in 1988 by Frank Farian, founder of Boney M.,[2] and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers,[3] with the two actual main studio singers, Brad Howell and John Davis,[4] and studio singers Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco,[5] and Linda Rocco,[5][6] 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,[7] 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, which was later taken away.[8]

They became one of the most popular pop acts in the late-1980s and early-1990s, with 7 million records sold in America alone; internationally, Milli Vanilli sold approximately 30 million singles.[9] 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 Their Grammy Award was revoked.[10][11][12] In 1998, they recorded a comeback album, Back and in Attack, but its release was canceled after Pilatus died the same year.[13]

  1. ^ Blake, Meredith (27 October 2023). "'We wanted to sing all along': A new documentary seeks to reframe the Milli Vanilli controversy". Los Angeles Times. November 20, 2023
  2. ^ McCaul, Molly; Bennett, James II (23 June 2023). "A new film challenges what we know about Milli Vanilli". THE CULTURE SHOW. GBH. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Gil (20 February 2020). "Blame It on The Tape: A Behind-the-Scenes Oral History of the Rise and Fall of Milli Vanilli". Billboard. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Here Are the Faces and Real Singers of Milli Vanilli [PHOTOS]". 99.9 KTDY. 9 January 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  5. ^ a b Horton, Adrian (15 June 2023). "'People thought they knew the story': the rise and fall of Milli Vanilli". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference reviewjournal/vanilli-voice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Rich TVX News Network (31 October 2023). "Milli Vanilli on Paramount+: The Pact With the Devil — Linda Rocco Unveiling Secrets". Medium. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. ^ "32nd Annual GRAMMY Awards (1989)". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  9. ^ Milli Vanilli Biography by Neil Z. Yeung
  10. ^ Shriver, Jerry (28 January 2010). "Milli Vanilli frontman says duo were musical 'scapegoats'". USA Today. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010.
  11. ^ Philips, Chuck (20 November 1990). "Milli Vanilli's Grammy Rescinded by Academy : Music: Organization revokes an award for the first time after revelation that the duo never sang on album". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  12. ^ Philips, Chuck (16 November 1990). "It's True: Milli Vanilli Didn't Sing : Pop music: The duo could be stripped of its Grammy after admitting it lip-synced the best-selling 'Girl You Know It's True.'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead At 33". Rolling Stone. 7 April 1998. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2008.