Milli Vanilli

Milli Vanilli was a musical act, a duo composed of Fabrice Morvan (b. May 14, 1966) and Rob Pilatus (b. June 8, 1965, d. 1998), formed in Germany in the mid-1980s. They are notorious for being the only group to have their Grammy Award stripped from them in 1990 after it was revealed that they had not been involved in the creation of their breakthrough album, Girl You Know It's True, and instead simply lip-syncing to pre-recorded studio singers in concert.

Related Topics:
Fabrice Morvan - May 14 - 1966 - Rob Pilatus - June 8 - 1965 - 1998 - Germany - 1980s - Grammy Award - 1990 - Lip-syncing

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Despite the scandal, the Milli Vanilli sound created by Frank Farian was ground-breaking in pop-music, as it combined (American) hip hop rhythms with Eurodance melodies. In fact, some of melodic influence in today's hip-hop may be attributed to Milli Vanilli's influence.

Related Topics:
Frank Farian - Pop - Hip hop - Eurodance

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The word "milli" means "national" in Turkish, and picked up by the artists while visiting Turkey on one of its national days.

Related Topics:
Turkish - Turkey

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Frank Farian used Pilatus and Morvan to front Charles Shaw, Johnny Davis and Brad Howell; he felt that these musicians were talented but unmarketable. Their first album was All or Nothing (see 1988 in music), which was both a European hit and an American hit. Despite critical pans, Milli Vanilli's fame continued to grow worldwide even after Charles Shaw told a reporter the truth; he later retracted his statement after Farian paid him off. The group's second album Girl You Know It's True spun four hit singles "Girl You Know It's True" and the group's three #1 hits, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You", "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It On the Rain". Milli Vanilli won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on February 22, 1990 for their second album, Girl You Know It's True (1990 in music). Pilatus was ridiculed in the press for comparing himself to Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan; he also developed a cocaine problem.

Related Topics:
Charles Shaw - Johnny Davis - Brad Howell - All or Nothing - 1988 in music - Girl You Know It's True - Grammy Award for Best New Artist - February 22 - 1990 - 1990 in music - Paul McCartney - Elvis Presley - Mick Jagger - Paul Simon - Bob Dylan - Cocaine

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With Morvan and Pilatus pressuring him to let them sing on the next album, Farian revealed the truth to reporters on November 15, 1990, after the record of Girl You Know It's True skipped during a live performance recorded by MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Connecticut. Milli Vanilli's Grammy was rescinded four days later, and Arista Records dropped the act from its rosters and deleted the album and its masters from their catalog. A court ruling in the US allowed anyone who had bought the album to get a refund.

Related Topics:
November 15 - 1990 - MTV - Lake Compounce - Connecticut - Arista Records

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Farian released the group's second album under the name The Real Milli Vanilli, and the resulting LP Moment of Truth spawned two singles, "Keep On Running" and "Too Late (True Love)". The album included three of the original singers from "All or Nothing" and "Girl You Know It's True" (USA): Brad Howell, John Davis and Gina Mohammed, while replacing Brad Howe from the previous album with newcomer Ray Horton on four tracks. In addition, the album featured rapping from Icy Bro on "Hard As Hell" and Tammy T on "Too Late (True Love)." A single from this album by Diane Warren, "When I Die", was re-released by several other artists, including Farian's No Mercy.

Related Topics:
Diane Warren - No Mercy

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The album experienced distribution problems with the label, BMG, causing limited availability and low sales. Farian chose to re-recorded this album with a Rob/Fab lookalike named Ray Horton singing all lead vocals, in 1992, as "Try 'N' B". The US version (self-titled) included three additional tracks: "Ding Dong", "Who Do You Love", and a remake of Dr. Hook's "Sexy Eyes". The album received extensive distribution on RCA Records and was also released globally outside Europe, including Russia. The Russian version, titled "Sexy Eyes", leaves off "Keep On Running", "Body Slam", "The End of Good TImes", "Nice 'N' Easy" from the US release and replaces them with "Cherish Your Love", "Keep On Pushing Me", "Family Affair", "Tell Me Why" and "Good Time".

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Insisting that they could sing their own music, Rob and Fab were signed to Kenny & Ricki Taylor's Joss Entertainment label to release their self-titled "Rob & Fab" album in 1993. The album featured all original songs, mostly written by Kenny Taylor and Fabrice Morvan, and a remake of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me." Unfortunately, Pilatus' unstable mental state and several suicide attempts constrained the creative abilities of the duo. Lead vocals on the album were performed by Fabrice Morvan.

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There were many references to Milli Vanilli in the album, and the cover art was designed to look like previous Milli Vanilli albums in an attempt to play off previous popularity. Less than 3000 Rob & Fab albums were manufactured, significantly limiting availability to most markets. The album was never released outside the USA. Following the album's lacklustre popularity, Pilatus began a series of criminal acts and was arrested for assault (including one man he attacked with a metal lamp base) and vandalism, among other crimes, in Los Angeles in 1995. He was sentenced to several months in jail in 1996, and began the first of several treatments in drug rehabilitation centers.

Related Topics:
Assault - Vandalism - Los Angeles

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In 1997, Milli Vanilli had a chance to tell their side of the story of their musical fiasco in the premiere episode of VH1's Behind The Music. In April, Rob & Fab signed to Farian's studio again to record a new album using their own voices. Pilatus and Morvan took voice lessons from Mario Bellefonte, lead voice instructor for the Metropolitan Opera Company. They also received training from English pronunciation experts to perfect their language skills (the singers were chastised during interviews for their Girl You Know It's True album due to their thick German accents, which were noticibly absent on the album tracks recorded by the studio singers). Pilatus continued to battle drug addiction during the album's creation, and Farian paid for his all his drug rehabilitation.

Related Topics:
1997 - VH1 - Behind The Music

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Rob & Fab began the promotional tour for their comeback album, "Back and in Attack", on 3 April 1997. Exactly one year later, in 1998, and shortly before the new album's release, Pilatus was found dead from an alcohol and drug overdose in Frankfurt, Germany. He was 32.

Related Topics:
Drug overdose - Frankfurt - Germany

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Today, Fabrice Morvan persues a solo career and released his first solo album, Love Revolution, in 2002. He also performs light alternative music in clubs throughout the U.S.

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