German-French R&B duo Milli Vanilli—made up of Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus—were riding high as 1989 became 1990. Their debut album, Girl You Know It’s True and hit single of the same name, had catapulted them into the international spotlight. However, that success also cast a light on their biggest secret: lip-syncing.
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Milli Vanilli became the poster child, and unfortunately the fall guys, for one of music’s biggest scandals during that time. Their fall from grace was fast and hard, a demise that makes one wonder, where are they now?
Milli Vanilli Then
The Munich-formed pop pairing was founded in 1988 by producer Frank Farian, the man who would ultimately bring about the end of Milli Vanilli. From the very beginning, they saw a great amount of success in Europe and decided to take their dance-pop dynamics across the pond.
[RELATED: On This Day in Music History: Milli Vanilli Confess to Lip-Syncing Their Music]
North America was more than receptive to their 1989 stateside debut, Girl You Know It’s True, falling head-over-heels for its title track, a hit that earned them the title of Best New Artist at the Grammys in early 1990. Only a few months later, the duo, living it up on Cloud 9, would come crashing down to earth.
On Nov. 15, 1990, it came to light that the duo had not sung a note of their music. Speculations of lip-syncing during live performances had begun to arise, but no one expected the two had never even sung on their own album.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Farian was the one to go public with the deception. He had reportedly fired the performers when they demanded they actually sing on the follow-up record to Girl You Know It’s True. Calling a press conference, Farian explained, “I said, ‘No. I don’t go for that.’ Sure, they have a voice, but that’s not really what I want to use on my records.”
He said “Girl You Know It’s True” had already been recorded by the time the duo had come into the picture. “It suddenly clicked in my mind, and it was kind of evident: I had the music, there were the people who wanted to perform outside,” he detailed. “And I said, ‘Hey, let’s put that together and make a great record out of it.’”
Pilatus confirmed the claims, responding in an exclusive interview, “We sold our souls to the devil … We lied to our families and our friends. We let down our fans. We realize exactly what we did to achieve our success. We made some very big mistakes and we apologize.”
Morvan added, “Rob and I never meant for it to go this way. Our producer tricked us. We signed contracts as singers but were never allowed to contribute. It was a nightmare. We were living a lie. The psychological pressure was very hard. It was like we were trapped in some golden prison.”
Any planned follow-up album was cancelled and Milli Vanilli was stripped of their Grammy Award, as well as their credibility. Obviously, Milli Vanilli was no more, however, Morvan and Pilatus weren’t ready to call it quits. They had something to prove: that they could actually sing.
In 1993, they released a self-titled album under the moniker Rob & Fab, but it failed to see commercial success. They even gave Milli Vanilli another try a few years later, recording the comeback album Back and in Attack in 1998. On the eve of the album’s promotional tour, Pilatus was found dead in a hotel room in Germany from what was ruled an accidental overdose. The album was never released.
Fab Morvan, former member of Milli Vanilli (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)
Milli Vanilli Now
Morvan went on to establish his own career after Milli Vanilli. His first solo album, Love Revolution, was released in 2003 and he has continued to release singles here and there over the last decade.
A biopic, depicting the group’s rise and fall, was recently announced. Titled after their iconic “Girl You Know It’s True,” the film is reportedly on a mission to shed light on the truth.
“Girl You Know It’s True is captivating on so many levels,” the film’s director Simon Verhoeven shared in a statement. “It not only tells the spectacular rise of two underdogs making it to the zenith of showbiz within one summer, it also gives a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of that illusory world of fame and its sometimes tragic and unscrupulous machinations. Personally, I think Rob and Fab did not deserve to become the sole scapegoats of this scandal.”
No release date has been announced for Girl You Know It’s True, however, filming was expected to have wrapped at the end of 2022.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
