Milli Vanilli
Years Active: 1988–1990, 1997–1998
Genre/s: Pop, rap, R&B, dance, disco
Label/s: Arista, Hansa
Milli Vanilli was a pop duo from Munich, Germany, that comprised Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The duo was founded in 1988 by the producer Frank Farian. They combined pop, rap, R&B, disco and dance music. Farian hired Brad Howell, John Davis, Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco and Linda Rocco to sing on the records, and had Morvan and Pilatus dance and lip-sync for performances.
Milli Vanilli's debut album, All or Nothing, was released in Europe in 1988 and repackaged by Arista Records for the US as Girl You Know It's True in 1989. It spent eight weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and produced three number-one singles, making Milli Vanilli one of the most popular acts of the year. In 1990, they won three American Music Awards and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Rumors spread that Milli Vanilli did not sing, owing to their French and German accents and a malfunction at a live show. After they pressured Farian to let them sing, in November 1990, Farian confirmed that their vocals were provided by other singers, leading to a backlash. Their music was pulled from radio rotation, their Grammy was revoked, and Arista deleted Girl You Know It's True from its catalog and refunded customers following several class action lawsuits. Farian defended Milli Vanilli as an art project combining musical and visual elements.
Farian repurposed songs planned for Milli Vanilli's second album as The Moment of Truth, released in 1991 under the name the Real Milli Vanilli, without Morvan and Pilatus. In 1993, Morvan and Pilatus released an album as Rob & Fab, which sold only 2,000 copies. A comeback album produced by Farian, Back and in Attack, was canceled after Pilatus's death from a drug overdose in 1998. Morvan continues to perform, singing live. In 2023, the documentary film Milli Vanilli and the biographical film Girl You Know It's True were released. In later years, Milli Vanilli came to be viewed with sympathy and some commentators saw them as victims of industry greed.