For a moment in the late '80s and early '90s, Milli Vanilli were on top of the world…
and what a long way to fall.
In the aftermath of a very public scandal, the band's success story came to a screeching
halt.
Here's what happened to Milli Vanilli.
In 1989, Milli Vanilli's Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan became instant pop superstars in America.
Their debut album in the states, Girl You Know It's True, ultimately yielded five smash
singles.
Then, in 1990, the band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
But soon enough, the jig was up, and the world discovered that Rob and Fab hadn't actually
sung on the album.
The problems began as early as July 19 89.
During a disastrous MTV performance, it was quite clear that Rob and Fab were lip-syncing…
because the backing track started to skip.
"It stopped — girl you know it's, girl you know it's, 80 thousand people, girl you know
it's, girl you know it's… you know, I couldn't repeat it fifteen times."
In November 1990, Milli Vanilli's manager Frank Farian finally came clean at a press
conference.
As History reports,
"He had fraudulently put the names and faces of [...] Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan on the
dance records he was creating in his studio using less esthetically gifted real musicians."
In the wake of the scandal, Rob and Fab were ordered to hand over their Grammy.
All the while, they maintained that they'd been duped by Farian.
"We couldn't break out of our contract.
Just the producer can stop the contract."
Here's how Rob Pilatus described his life prior to meeting Farian, according to The
New York Times:
"We were living together in the projects, with two other musicians in Munich.
We had nothing to eat, and we were unhappy.
We wanted to be stars.
And suddenly this guy gave us a chance, and we took it."
One month after confessing the truth, Frank Farian tried making Milli Vanilli a thing
again.
He boldly reformed the group, but without Rob or Fab.
This time around, two of the musicians who actually sang on the Milli Vanilli tunes were
front and center: Brad Howell and John Davis.
Believe it or not, Farian named this version of the group The Real Milli Vanilli.
The band released an album overseas… with the unforgivable title The Moment of Truth.
The Real Milli Vanilli was given a new, impossibly cheesy name in America: Try 'N' B.
But the public didn't care either way, and the band only lasted for one album.
Despite the scandal, Rob and Fab weren't ready to give up the spotlight.
In 1991, they parodied themselves in a gum commercial that asks the burning question:
"How long will the flavor of Carefree Sugarless Bubble Gum last?"
"'Til these guys sing for themselves.
Carefree Sugarless Bubble Gum.
The flavor lasts."
Rob and Fab eventually returned to the recording studio, ditching the Milli Vanilli moniker
altogether.
And this time, they used their real singing voices.
In 1992, they performed a new single on The Arsenio Hall Show, and they sounded … pretty
good, actually.
"Why didn't you sing in the first place, man?
You can sing!"
"First, I want to say to the audience that we don't want to blame or point the finger
at anybody."
In 1993, they released the self-titled album Rob & Fab.
According to CBC Music, the record sold roughly 2,000 copies in the U.S.
Rob Pilatus had a hard time grappling with life after the scandal.
In a 2018 interview with the BBC, Fab opened up about how all the stress had taken a toll
on them.
"We had to internalize the whole thing and the only way to do that was to either drink
alcohol or do drugs."
Sadly, Rob's struggle with addiction continued to snowball.
In December 1991, he had to be talked down from a ninth-story balcony by police.
"It was at this hotel in Los Angeles, early Saturday morning, that police found him ready
to take his life."
According to the Independent,
"In 1996, he was sentenced to three months in jail and six months at a drug treatment
facility in California after he beat up a man with a metal lamp-base, assaulted another
person and broke into a car."
Fab and Rob's friendship had fallen into disrepair by 1997.
As Fab explained to People,
"We have no relationship at this point.
I got sober.
I am going my own way.”
Sadly, Rob's downward spiral continued, and he died of an accidental overdose in 1998
at the age of 33.
"It was like losing a part of myself."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
In 2003, Fab released his first solo album, Love Revolution, which included a heartfelt
acoustic tribute to Rob Pilatus called "It's Your Life."
More recently, he joined forces with one of the original Milli Vanilli vocalists John
Davis.
They performed together at the Silvester 2015 party in Berlin… for a clearly enthusiastic
crowd.
Fab still plays the occasional solo show, breathing new life into those old Milli Vanilli
tunes.
And in 2016, he starred in another memorable commercial… this time, as part of KFC's
"Being Real" campaign.
For three minutes, he waxes poetic about his past, his present, and the concept of realness,
all while working on his music and eating Kentucky Fried Chicken.
"Hey little buddy.
He's a little bit like me … I've changed from Milli Vanilli into the real me."
Variety reports that the script for a Milli Vanilli biopic has been knocking around since
2007 but the project seems to be in production limbo right now.
Still, Fab remains hopeful that it'll still see the light of day.
He told Variety in 2018:
"We made history once.
We're ready to do it again."
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