Milli Vanilli

The popular music group Milli Vanilli rose to worldwide fame on the strength of their hit singles and compelling stage presence, but will be remembered most for their inauthenticity. Established in 1988, the pop duo consisted of the attractive and charismatic Rob Pilatus (1965-1998) and Fabrice Morvan (1966—) who—unbeknownst to the audience—danced and lip-synched to the songs of the unattractive American studio band, Numarx.

The Milli Vanilli hit, "Girl You Know It's True," reached number two on the U.S. pop charts in 1989, and the group's next releases ("Baby Don't Forget My Number," "Blame It on the Rain," and "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You") all reached number one. However, not until after Milli Vanilli won the 1989 Grammy award for Best New Artist did the public find out that Pilatus and Morvan did not actually sing on their records or on-stage. The two sported a trendy, marketable look, wearing body-contoured bike shorts and T-shirts and shoulder-length dreadlocks, but they possessed apparently no musical talent. The record producer Frankie Farian had offered them $4,000 each plus royalties to dance and lip-synch to "Girl You Know It's True" on European television, and after the song became a worldwide hit, the duo continued the scam on television and on-stage.

Pilatus and Morvan alleged that Farian promised them studio time but never delivered, and after "their" song became a hit, the two were so enamored of the celebrity lifestyle that they preferred not to give up the illusion, and continued to lip-synch. When the world learned the duo was mere window-dressing, the Grammy committee rescinded their Best New Artist award. Twenty-seven lawsuits alleged fraud against Arista Records, BMG (Arista's parent company), and several concert promoters. More than 80,000 rebates of up to three dollars were given to any individual with proof of purchase of a Milli Vanilli record or concert ticket.

In 1991, Farian released an album by the "real" Milli Vanilli (i.e., Numarx), but the public ignored it. In 1993 Pilatus and Morvan, under the name Rob & Fab, recorded a self-titled album that failed commercially and critically. A cable television documentary on the lives of Pilatus and Morvan revealed a post-scandal downhill trajectory into debt, depression, drugs, and suicide attempts on the part of Pilatus (with a premature death from heart failure at the age of 32), and a relatively low-profile life of ignominy on the part of Morvan. The tragicomedy of Milli Vanilli reinforced the cynicism in popular culture that had begun as a backlash to the rigging of The $64,000 Question and other quiz shows in the late 1950s.

VH1 Behind the Music: Milli Vanilli. Documentary. 1998.

Romanowski, Patricia, et al., eds. The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. New York, Rolling Stone Press, 1995.