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THE real singers behind Milli Vanilli have been revealed, along with other revelations about the ill-fated musical duo.
A new Milli Vanilli documentary debuting on Paramount+ on October 24 details the rise and fall of the musical duo.
Producer Frank Farian was working on a single when he decided to make performers Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus the faces of Milli Vanilli.
Morvan and Pilatus were talented dancers but didn’t excel as well at singing, which prompted Farian to have the duo lip-sync to other artists.
The song – Girl You Know It’s True – rose to the top of the charts in multiple countries and began the rise of Milli Vanilli.
The duo won the 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
But later that year, in November 1990, it was revealed other individuals were doing all of the duo’s singing.
It was eventually revealed that Charles Shaw, John Davis, and Brad Howell were actually singing all of Milli Vanilli’s famous tunes, including Blame It On The Rain and Girl You Know It’s True.
The scandal forced Milli Vanilli to return their Grammy Award.
Morvan and Pilatus receded from the spotlight, with both coping differently.
While Morvan ultimately moved to the Netherlands with his partner and children, Pilatus died of drug addiction in 1998 at just 33 years old.
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The film, directed by Luke Korem, places blame for the duo’s failures on several individuals, including Farian and even renowned producer Clive Davis.
One individual, Arista Records Senior VP Ken Levy, claimed in the documentary that Davis was aware of Milli Vanilli’s lip-syncing.
But Farian had pulled a similar stunt in the 1970s with Boney M.
Bobby Farrell, the group’s frontman, didn’t sing on its records.
THE REAL VOICES
In the aftermath of the lip-syncing scandal, Davis and Howell went on to record an album with others under the name The Real Milli Vanilli.
But the album was never released in the United States.
Davis also appeared with Morvan from time to time, including on a 2015 German television show.
Davis died in May 2021 of Covid-related complications.
Howell provided the vocals for the German band Chilly.
He also played keyboard and piano.
Meanwhile, Shaw went on to release more music in the 1990s.
In addition to Davis, Howell, and Shaw, several other individuals were linked to Milli Vanilli’s vocals, including backup singers Linda Rocco and Jodie Rocco.
