Winners of the 1989 Best New Artist Grammy, Milli Vanilli made history when they had their award revoked. Following a massive lip-synching scandal, the group was revealed to not have sung their own music. While performing in Connecticut, the track to the song skipped, and the duo ran off-stage. The incident itself was not enough for fans to turn on the group, but shortly after their Grammy win, Pilatus and Morvan, the frontmen of the group, announced that they had not sung their own music.At the Connecticut performance, many people had originally believed it to be a technical issue or the result of bad mixing. But as reporters dug into the duo's history, they realized that the frontmen did not speak English to the level of proficiency that would match their vocal performance. This is what originally tipped the media off about the duo's secret.
What Happened To Milli Vanilli At The 'Grammys'
The Best New Artist category is meant to represent the new up-and-coming musicians that are taking the world by storm. Past winners have often gone forth to achieve illustrious and profitable music careers. Many cite the duo's Grammy win as what shined the spotlight on the group's inner workings. After the lip-sync fiasco, Pilatus and Morvan insisted that they would sing their own music on the second album, and when their producer refused, they went public with the truth about their music.
At the press conference, the duo was sincere and apologized for lying about their vocals. They expressed that they were approached under these conditions and just wanted to make it big. Fab later insisted that they were forced to lip-sync, and would have been back in Germany if they had not agreed to the producer's conditions.
This certainly wasn't the only instance of famous stars lip-synching. Huge stars have been caught singing over tracks, and many openly state the involvement of pre-recorded lyrics in their live performances. But when the duo announced that their German-based producer, Frank Farian, suggested that they hire singers to do all the group's vocal work while the duo would simply dance and lip-sync, the public backlash was immediate. The Grammy's stripped the group of their award, seeing that they had not actually performed any of their own music.
Farian had another group prior to Milli Vanilli, Boney M. This disco group was most popular in Europe at the time, but it allowed Farian the room to control creative decisions.
Not Only Did Milli Vanilli Lose The Grammy But They Also Dealt With Various Lawsuits
The Grammy's had never revoked an award before, and the unprecedented nature of this decision combined with Milli Vanilli's popularity led to the situation becoming international news. The story was everywhere. There were lawsuits filed and even a $3 refund to those who had purchased the group's album assuming that their favorite duo was creating the popular music.
In an interview with VladTV, Fab Morvan, who was part of the infamous duo, shined a light on how convoluted the situation truly was. Frank Farian was more concerned with achieving the right look for the group and found the duo who had originally modeled and danced. And after spending 41 weeks in the top 10 of Billboards chart, the group had seemingly succeeded. But with disputes over the upcoming album, they announced a press conference with a large group of reporters. The duo admitted that they had not sung their own music and that they had only agreed to the situation to achieve their longstanding goal of reaching stardom. What is perhaps most unfortunate, is that the duo could sing but were denied the opportunity by their producer. Rob and Fab were never even allowed to meet the singers, they were kept apart by the producers.
The Producer Might've Been The One To Blame
While the faces of the duo received the most criticism from the general public, it seemed that they were victims of a producer's control. The backlash hit the group hard, especially Rob who had run-ins with the law and was eventually found dead after struggling with addiction. This tragic event happened on the eve of their comeback promotional tour. The comeback album was never released.
Fab did however release his own album, "Love Revolution", in 2003. He still speaks about his partner and the truth behind the situation that garnered international attention.
Milli Vanilli may be remembered for their retracted Grammy win, but the true story is a bit more complicated. The duo was not in creative control and was ultimately unable to contribute vocally to the project. Despite not being in control, the backlash effectively ended their dreams of becoming American music stars. Even as they tried to stage a comeback, the effects of the controversy proved to be more severe than many were aware of.
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