MILLI Vanilli’s hit parade came to a stop when it was revealed they weren’t the actual singers behind their own hits.
They faced backlash from fans after a lip sync incident resulted in the revocation of their Grammy Award.
What happened to Milli Vanilli?
On July 21, 1989, Milli Vanilli was exposed for lipsynching after their Club MTV concert was interrupted because of a technical difficulty with the venue’s hard drive.
The duo was performing as part of the touring lineup at the network’s stop in Lake Compounce, Connecticut.
When the hard drive jammed, the record kept skipping and repeating the “Girl, you know it’s…” lyric of their song Girl You Know It’s True.
As the recording malfunctioned, Rob Pilatus temporarily exited the stage but eventually returned.
The abovementioned incident was one in a series of controversial setbacks experienced by Milli Vanilli.
“I knew right then and there, it was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli,” Pilatus remembered.
He recalled to the Los Angeles Times: “When my voice got stuck in the computer, and it just kept repeating and repeating, I panicked.
“I didn’t know what to do. I just ran off the stage.
“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.”
To coincide with the negative publicity from the MTV lipsync scandal, Milli Vanilli also faced backlash when they were reportedly misquoted in a Time issue from March 1990.
During their Time interview, Morvan and Pilatus compared their stardom to that of Elvis, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones.
“Musically, we are more talented than any Bob Dylan,” Pilatus said to the outlet.
“Musically, we are more talented than Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger, his lines are not clear.
“He doesn’t know how he should produce a sound. I’m the new modern rock ‘n’ roll. I’m the new Elvis.”
However, Pilatus disputed the interview’s contents and shared with the first-mentioned outlet: “I was in shock when I read it.
“I am a fan of Mick Jagger and the Stones. I mean I knew I wasn’t singing, so why would I ever criticize the Beatles?
“All I said was that Elvis was a big idol in his time and we were big in ours.”
Around the same time as the lipsync controversy and interview backlash, Pilatus and Morvan were hit with several lawsuits from fans who cited the scandal as falling under US consumer fraud protection laws.
When did Milli Vanilli have their Grammy Award taken away?
On November 19, 1990, The Recording Academy revoked Milli Vanilli’s Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
In a statement, the Grammy’s then-president Mike Greene explained: “I hope this action signals loudly and clearly to producers, record companies, and packagers that the academy cares deeply about this issue.
“I hope this revocation will make the industry think long and hard before anyone ever tries to pull something like this again.”
In response, Morvan expressed: “We know that we were involved in something that was wrong.”
Pilatus added: “Fabrice and I want to give the Grammy back to the real singers.”
Who were the real voices of Milli Vanilli?
Much of Milli Vanilli’s early work was sung by session musicians John Davis, Brad Howell, Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco, and Linda Rocco.
“The producer called and said, ‘You can do the whole album with us but keep it quiet. No one else is supposed to know,” Shaw confessed to OWN.
“You had two sides. On one side you feel good because it’s like…’My voice made it number one, worldwide.’
“But you’re still sitting in the back saying, ‘That’s not what I really wanted. I wanted to make it.'”
Where is Milli Vanilli now?
On April 3, 1998, 32-year-old Rob Pilatus died from an accidental alcohol and prescription drug overdose.
The duo is survived by Fab Morvan; he is married to his wife of 10-plus years Tessa van der Steen.
The couple has four children together and co-manages their fitness website Fab Milly; where Morvan shares his health routines and exercise regimes.
Morvan still occasionally performs at Europe’s festivals that are centered around 1980s and 1990s music.
On October 24, 2023, Milli Vanilli’s eponymous documentary is scheduled to be released via Paramount+.
