Twenty-five years after being unmasked as a fake, Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan is attempting an audacious comeback — by singing with the man whose voice he mimed to during his brief heyday.
Morvan is in the studio with John Davis, one of the behind-the-scenes vocalists who sang on the hits that were fronted by Morvan and Rob Pilatus. TMZ reports that they are making an album called Face Meets Voice: A True Milli Vanilli Experience. Davis said of their collaboration: “Everyone knew Fab didn’t sing, but had no idea he actually could sing. And really great.”
Milli Vanilli were created by the German pop impresario Frank Farian in 1988, and won the best new artist Grammy in February 1990. Yet it was clear even before then that something was amiss with the duo. During a televised live performance of their hit single Girl You Know It’s True in July 1989, the song began to skip, repeating part of title over and over, making it plain they had not been singing live. In December 1989, the singer Charles Shaw said he had been one of three singers on the group’s album.
Farian finally confessed to the deception in November 1990 and Milli Vanilli were stripped of their Grammy. Morvan and Pilatus attempted to relaunch their career as Rob & Fab in the early 90s and then, again as Milli Vanilli with the help of Farian, in 1997. The second attempt came to nothing when Pilatus was found dead of a suspected alcohol and prescription drug overdose as the pair prepared for a promotional tour in April 1998.
