Rob Pilatus
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| Rob Pilatus | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Pilatus |
| Born | June 8, 1965 |
| Origin | New York City, United States Munich, Germany |
| Died | April 2, 1998 (aged 32) |
| Genre(s) | Dance, pop, rap, funk |
| Years active | 1988–1998 |
| Label(s) | Arista Records, BMG, Hansa Records and Joss Entertainment Group |
| Associated acts | Empire Bizarre,Milli Vanilli, The Real Milli Vanilli, Rob & Fab |
Robert Pilatus (June 8, 1965 – April 2, 1998) was a German-American model, dancer and singer of Afro-German heritage, and former member of the controversial pop music duo Milli Vanilli.
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[edit] Biography
Pilatus was born in New York City, the son of an African American soldier and a German mother who was a dancer. Pilatus was later adopted[clarify]by a German family and raised in Munich, Germany. He worked as a model and break dancer before joining Fabrice Morvan in 1988 to form the pop group Milli Vanilli.
[edit] Milli Vanilli
Pilatus and Morvan were noticed by music producer Frank Farian, who signed them up to be part of a musical act. Shortly after a trip to Turkey, where the duo was reputed to get the band name from a local advertising slogan, Milli Vanilli was born, with Pilatus and Morvan serving as the public faces for the vocal talents of Charles Shaw, John Davis and Brad Howell, who Farian thought were talented musicians but lacked a marketable image.
The first Milli Vanilli platinum album was Girl You Know It's True which became a worldwide hit. The album produced five hit singles including three number 1 hits, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You", "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It On The Rain". Milli Vanilli won the Grammy Award for "Best New Artist" on February 22, 1990 for "Girl You Know It's True". The album sold 5,100,000 copies.
Despite the enormous success, the duo were a frequent target of rumours and allegations of on-stage lip-synching and not having sung on the album. Charles Shaw, one of the actual vocalists of Milli Vanilli, told a reporter about the truth of the group's secret, but later retracted his statement after Farian paid him off.
When Pilatus and Morvan pressured Farian to let them sing on the next album, Farian revealed the truth to reporters on November 15, 1990 that Pilatus and Morvan did not actually sing on the records and their voices were dubbed. Milli Vanilli's Grammy award was withdrawn four days later, and Arista Records dropped the act from its roster and deleted their album and songs from their catalog, making "Girl You Know It's True" the largest-selling album to ever be taken out of print. A court ruling in the United States allowed anyone who had bought the album to get a refund.
Farian would later attempt a failed comeback for the group without Pilatus and Morvan. Months after the scandal, Pilatus and Morvan appeared in a commercial for CareFree Sugarless Gum. The duo begin to lip sync to an opera record. An announcer asks while they are lip synching, "How long does the taste of CareFree Sugarless Gum last?". The record then begins to skip and then the announcer answers, "Until these guys sing themselves."
[edit] Comeback
During this time, the duo moved to Los Angeles, California, where they signed up with Joss Entertainment Group and released an eponymous album under the name of Rob & Fab. Most of the songs in the album were written by Kenny Taylor and Fab Morvan, while Morvan and Pilatus provided the lead vocals. Despite receiving positive reviews, financial constraints, poor promotion, and the scandal surrounding Milli Vanilli's lip-synching reputation led to its failure.
[edit] Death
In 1996, Pilatus served three months jail for assault, vandalism, attempted robbery and spent six months on drug rehabilitation, before returning to Germany. A depressed Pilatus eventually took his life by overdosing on prescription drugs in Frankfurt on April 2, 1998, just before their third scheduled Milli Vanilli album, Back and in Attack, was to be released.[clarify]
[edit] Film and Milli Vanilli Greatest Hits album
On February 14, 2007, it was announced that Universal Pictures was developing a film based on the true story of Milli Vanilli's rise and fall in the music industry. Jeff Nathanson, screenwriter from Catch Me If You Can, will write and direct the film. [1][2]
On March 26, 2007, the Greatest Hits album was released.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Milli Vanilli
- All or Nothing (1988)
- All Or Nothing (US Remix Album) (1989)
- Girl You Know It's True (1989)
- The Remix Album (1990)
- Back and in Attack (1998) Album studio not for sale
- Greatest Hits (2006)
[edit] Rob & Fab
- Rob & Fab (1993)
[edit] References
- ^ Variety.com : Universal sets up Milli Vanilli film, by Michael Fleming, February 14, 2007.
- ^ RollingStone.com : Girl, You Know It's True: Milli Vanilli Biopic will reveal the truth (!), by Nicole Frehsee, February 20, 2007
