In the late 1980s, Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan were known to the world as the recording duo Milli Vanilli. The European singer-rapper-dancers took the world by storm with their catchy songs, like “Girl You Know It’s True,” and their model good looks.
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But their world came crashing down in 1990, when it was revealed that Rob and Fab were just the faces of the group and that they were merely lip-synching the songs fans knew and loved. They went from superstardom to do the butt of everyone’s jokes practically overnight. And while Fab is trying to reinvent himself and tell his version of their truth, Rob tragically passed away of a drug overdose in 1998. In August of this year, Morvan released a book, “You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli,” sharing his side of the group’s rise and fall.
This is the story of Milli Vanilli.
Making Milli Vanilli
Fabrice Morvan first met breakdancer Rob Pilatus at the party after Morvan left his native France for Germany. The two bonded over their love of dance and their desire to be famous. They got their first big break when they were discovered by German record producer Frank Farian, who signed the twentysomethings to a multi-album contract as Milli Vanilli. But apparently, they didn’t read the fine print, because Rob and Fab had no idea they wouldn’t be singing at all.
“We were so naive that when the contract was put on the table,” Morvan told The Guardian. “It was never really implied, like, hey, go read that. There was no management, there was no protection. There were golden records on the wall, so that was enough.”
“Girl You Know It’s True”
Milli Vanilli burst onto the scene in March 1989 with their debut single, “Girl You Know It’s True,” which hit number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their video was in constant rotation on MTV, and Rob and Fab had established themselves as sex symbols with a unique sound that mixed rap, R&B and pop.
The group followed up that success with a string of number ones, including “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” “Blame it On The Rain” and “Baby Don’t Forget My Number.”
The Skip Heard Around The World
In the months after their album dropped, Milli Vanilli hit the road to promote their music. All was going great until a cringeworthy performance was shown live on MTV during their 1989 Club MTV Tour.
Smack dab in the middle of a performance of “Girl You Know It’s True,” the record the group was lip-synching to skipped, repeating the words “girl you know it’s” over and over again. The guys did their best to play it off as a DJ scratch, but they eventually cut the performance short and ran off stage.
Say What Now?
Riding high on their success, Milli Vanilli was all in. In an interview with Time Magazine, Pilatus said Milli Vanilli could not be touched and, had contributed more to pop music than Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.
“I’m the new modern rock ‘n’ roll. I’m the new Elvis,” he said.
But in an interview with DJ Vlad, Fab blamed it all on the alcohol.
“We had partied heavily the night before, you know, still drunk, still high,” he said. “Rob spoke English well. I spoke better and understood better. Sometimes he put his foot in his mouth.”
He went on to say that his partner was misunderstood.
A Looming Threat
By the end of 1989, Charles Shaw, one of the real vocalists behind the group’s hit song, “Girl You Know It’s True,” was tired of being in the background and was ready to go public. Sources say Frank Farian paid Shaw $150,000 to rescind his statement, but things were already beginning to fall apart.
Best New Artist
The group rode their success into 1990, winning three American Music Awards and the GRAMMY for Best New Artist, beating out the other impressive artists in the category, including Neneh Cherry, Tone Lōc and Soul II Soul.
A Shocking Confession
The group’s world came crashing down in November 1990, when producer Frank Farian admitted that Rob and Fab were nothing more than the faces of the group and had not contributed any vocals on the tracks that made them famous. That admission led to Milli Vanilli being dumped by their fans and the radio stations. The GRAMMYs also rescind the group’s award, the first time in the history of the show.
“We felt like we were abandoned by everyone,” Morvan said in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. “Because when the news came out, we were the ones that people were focusing on. The fact of the matter is there were a lot of people that were involved.”
Loads of Legal Trouble
After losing their GRAMMY, Milli Vanilli lost their record deal with Arista. And just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, they were hit with string of lawsuits, including class action lawsuits from angry fans who accused Milli Vanilli of fraud.
Just Jokes?
Although Milli Vanilli had achieved mainstream success, the European duo with model good looks was also the target of some people’s jokes. In 1990, Damon Wayand and Keenan Ivory Wayans poked fun at the group on their hit sketch comedy series “In Living Color.” In the hilarious sketch, the comedians pitched a “Milli Vanilli Kit,” complete with a mop wig, colored contacts and bad accents for anyone.
“In ten minutes, you too can look and sound just like Milli Vanilli,” they joked.
Returning as Rob & Fab
The guys were on a mission to show the world they really could sing, so in 1993, they released a self-titled album with The Joss Entertainment Group under the name Rob & Fab. But the damage had already been done, and the album was a complete flop.
A Tragic Ending
The weight of the scandal proved to be too much for Pilatus to handle, and he turned to drugs to deal with his pain. He tried to get clean through a rehabilitation program, but on April 2, 1998, he was found dead in a hotel room in Frankfort, Germany of an apparent drug overdose. He was 33 years old.
The Real Milli Vanilli
Although they never achieved the same level of success as Rob and Fab, John Davis and Brad Howell, the real voices behind Milli Vanilli did get a chance to show off their talent, performing their songs on stage. Check out this mashup of the group’s hits.
Moving Forward
Fab Morvan is trying to move on from the scandal the rocked his world in the 1990s. He continues to pursue his love of music and art and has been involved in projects about the group’s rise to fame, including the 2023 documentary, “Milli Vanilli.” In August 2025, he released his memoir, “You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli.”
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