Milli Vanilli () was a pop duo founded in 1988 in Munich, Germany, comprising Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. They combined pop, rap, R&B, disco and dance. The producer Frank Farian hired Brad Howell, John Davis, Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco and Linda Rocco to sing on the records, and had Morvan and Pilatus pose as the performers, dancing and lip-syncing.
Milli Vanilli's debut album, All or Nothing, was released in Europe in 1988 and was 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 Their music was pulled from radio rotation, their Grammy was revoked, and Arista deleted Girl You Know It's True from its catalog and refunded customers following several class action lawsuits.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 gained the rights to the Milli Vanilli name, and 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.
Formation and All or Nothing, 1984–1989
Rob Pilatus, from Munich, and Fab Morvan, from Paris, met at a Los Angeles disco in the 1980s and reconnected again in Munich. They bonded over their experiences growing up black in European cities. In Munich, they attempted to find work as backing singers, then formed their own act and recorded an album for a small record label that sold a few thousand copies. They also worked as dancers for pop singers and hosted club nights. According to Pilatus, they struggled financially and lived in a housing project.
Around this period, the German music producer Frank Farian recorded a cover of the Numarx song "Girl You Know It's True" with session musicians. Farian had previously created the 1970s disco band Boney M, whose frontman, Bobby Farrell, was a dancer who lip-synced to Farian's vocals. For "Girl You Know It's True", Farian enlisted studio vocalists including Charles Shaw, John Davis, Brad Howell and the twin sisters Jodie and Linda Rocco.
After "Girl You Know It's True" became a hit in Europe, Farian enlisted Morvan and Pilatus to pose as the singers. According to Pilatus, Farian said he would make them multi-millionaires. On 1 January 1988, Morvan and Pilatus signed a contract with Farian to record 10 songs a year. They signed without understanding the terms and conditions. Morvan said later that they tried to leave the contract when Farian would not allow them to sing, but that he demanded they pay back their advance. This was denied by Ingrid Segieth, Farian's assistant and lover. According to Pilatus, Farian promised they would be allowed artistic input after they had done enough promotional work.
Morvan and Pilatus spent much of 1988 promoting "Girl You Know It's True" in Spain, France and Italy. It reached the top five in 23 countries, including number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and sold seven million copies worldwide. Milli Vanilli's debut album, All or Nothing, was released in Europe in November 1988. According to Pilatus, Farian told them they had to continue the ruse and gave them a $20,000 advance. They went along with the plan as they had never had success before.
Girl You Know It's True and American success, 1989
In the US, Arista Records repackaged All or Nothing as Girl You Know It's True in March 1989, including an additional song, "Blame It on the Rain", written by Diane Warren. It spent 78 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, including eight weeks at number one, making Milli Vanilli one of the biggest pop acts of the year. It was certified six-times platinum in January 1990. The singles "Blame It on the Rain", "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" and "Baby Don't Forget My Number" all reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Milli Vanilli's music videos were played in heavy rotation on MTV.
In April 1989, Milli Vanilli declined to perform on The Arsenio Hall Show, which requires artists to perform live. They hired Sandy Gallin as their manager that month and moved to Beverly Hills on 11 June. Rumors spread that Milli Vanilli had not performed on their songs. During a London radio interview, the host demanded they sing on air. When Milli Vanilli gave their first MTV interview, their limited English made the crew wonder if they had sung on their records. In July 1989, Morvan and Pilatus asked to stop giving interviews as their accents were driving suspicion. In December, Shaw told Newsday he was one of the real vocalists, but retracted the claim. He later said Farian had threatened him for going to the press. Farian denied this, but said he had settled with Shaw for US$155,000.
In mid-1989, Milli Vanilli joined the Club MTV tour alongside several other acts. On 21 July, during a performance on MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Bristol, Connecticut, the prerecorded "Girl You Know It's True" vocal track became stuck on repeat. Morvan and Pilatus continued to mime, then ran off stage. Although several other acts on the tour also lip-synced, the incident proved that Milli Vanilli did not sing live at their shows. The incident was not widely reported, and the audience accepted the lip-syncing as part of the show. However, Pilatus said later that the incident was "the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli". A 1990 episode of In Living Color parodied Milli Vanilli, mocking their accents, hair and dance moves.
American Music Awards and Grammy, 1990
In January 1990, at the American Music Awards, Milli Vanilli won for favorite new pop-rock artist, favorite new soul or rhythm and blues artist, and favorite pop-rock single (for "Girl You Know It's True"). In February, they won Best New Artist at the 32nd Grammy Awards. Morvan said later that he and Pilatus had not wanted to win, as "the criteria for the Grammys is that you have to sing on the record ... When they called out our name, something exploded in the pit of my stomach." Todd Headlee, a former assistant at their management company, said Gallin was furious when he discovered he had submitted them for consideration. Though the Grammy awards ceremony usually requires acts to perform live, Milli Vanilli's management convinced them to make an exception by saying their dance routines made live singing impossible.
A March 1990 issue of Time quoted Pilatus proclaiming himself "the new Elvis" and saying that Milli Vanilli were more talented than Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times later that year, Pilatus said this was a misunderstanding stemming from his poor English: "I was in shock when I read it ... All I said was that Elvis was a big idol in his time and we were big in ours."
Exposure and backlash, 1990–1991
In November 1990, Farian released a new Milli Vanilli single, "Keep on Running", without the approval of Morvan and Pilatus. They continued to pressure Farian to let them sing. In response, on 14 November, Farian held a press conference in Munich where he fired both members and confirmed that they had not sung on their records. Their second album and 1991 tour were canceled.