Rob Pilatus

Robert Pilatus (8 June 1964 – 3 April 1998) was a German model, dancer, and singer. He was a member of the pop music duo Milli Vanilli with Fabrice Morvan.

Rob Pilatus
Pilatus at the 1990 Grammy Awards rehearsal in February 1990
Background information
Birth nameRobert Pilatus
Born(1965-06-08)8 June 1965
Munich, West Germany
Died3 April 1998(1998-04-03) (aged 33)
Friedrichsdorf (near Frankfurt), Germany
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Model
  • dancer
  • singer
  • rapper
Years active1988–1998
Labels
Associated acts

Biography

Early life

Pilatus was born in Munich, West Germany,.[1] His father was an African-American soldier and his mother was a German stripper.[2][3] He spent his first four years in a Bavarian orphanage before he was adopted by a Munich family.[4] He stated he was an outsider as a child in Germany, being called "Kunta Kinte" (the African hero in the film Roots) by his classmates.[5] After leaving his adoptive home as a teen, Pilatus worked as a model and breakdancer,[4] and appeared as a backing singer with the group Wind at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels. (The band finished in second place.) He met Fabrice Morvan on the dance scene in Munich in 1988, and after working as models, they decided to form the pop group Milli Vanilli.[6]

Milli Vanilli

Pilatus and Morvan both wanted to move into music, and were subsequently noticed by German music producer Frank Farian, who signed them to be part of a musical act. They signed contracts with Farian without taking legal advice.[7] After a trip to Turkey, where the duo reputedly took part of their name from a local advertising slogan, Milli Vanilli was born. Pilatus and Morvan were surprised to learn from Farian that they would not be singing on their records. They initially refused, but were unable to pay back the advance they had received, which they had used to change and promote their images by investing in clothes and their trademark hair extensions. They decided to continue with the agreement for a short time until they had made enough money to pay back the advance. This meant that they were to be only the public faces[8] for songs that had been pre-recorded with singers Charles Shaw and Brad Howell, who Farian thought were vocally talented but lacked marketable images.[9] Farian had a history of acts, such as Boney M[10] where songs were performed by unseen, uncredited singers.

The first Milli Vanilli platinum album, Girl You Know It's True, became a worldwide hit. It 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".[11] Milli Vanilli won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990 for Girl You Know It's True.[12]

Milli Vanilli quickly rose to fame and fortune, making it difficult for Pilatus and Moran to withdraw from their agreement with Farian. Their attractiveness and appealing dance performances added to their huge on-stage success. After several years, Pilatus and Morvan became the subject of rumours of onstage lip-synching. Charles Shaw, one of their recordings' actual vocalists, told the media the truth, but retracted his statement when Farian paid him $150,000.[13]

When Pilatus and Morvan pressured Farian to let them sing on their next album, Farian confessed to reporters on 15 November 1990 that the duo had not sung on the recordings. Milli Vanilli's Grammy Award was withdrawn four days later.[14] Pilatus and Morvan said in an interview that they did the moral thing by initiating the withdrawal of the Grammy Award themselves.[15] Arista Records released them from its label and removed their album and songs from their catalogue, making Girl You Know It's True the largest-selling album to be taken out of print. A United States court ruling allowed anyone who had bought the album to receive a refund.[16]

Farian later attempted a comeback for the duo, but it was unsuccessful. Pilatus and Morvan decided to spend time apart to get their lives back on track. Months after the media backlash, they appeared in a commercial for Carefree Sugarless [chewing] Gum, where they jokingly lip-synched to an opera recording.[17]

In 1992, Pilatus and Morvan signed with a new label, Taj, and released Rob & Fab, an album featuring their own voices, but it sold only around 2,000 copies due to its limited release.[9] The label went bankrupt shortly thereafter.[18]

Struggle

In the years following Milli Vanilli's downfall, Pilatus struggled with substance abuse and suicide attempts as a result of the negative media attention on him and his adoptive family. After the duo attempted a comeback, Morvan and Pilatus spent time apart. In 1996, Pilatus served three months in prison for assault, vandalism and attempted robbery. Farian paid for Pilatus to spend six months in drug rehabilitation before returning to Germany from the United States.[19]

Death

On 3 April 1998, on the eve of a promotional tour for a new Milli Vanilli album, Back and in Attack, featuring Pilatus and Morvan on lead vocals, Pilatus was found dead from alcohol and prescription drug overdose in a hotel room at Friedrichsdorf, near Frankfurt. His death was ruled accidental. The album has never been released.[20]

Pilatus is buried in the Munich Waldfriedhof.[21]

Discography

Milli Vanilli

Rob and Fab

References
  1. "Milli Vanilli". fisch+fleisch. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  2. IMDB retrieved June 16, 2020
  3. His memorial at the Find A Grave website retrieved December 2017
  4. Staff (6 April 1998). "Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead". MTV. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  5. "So Sad: This Milli Vanilli Singer Lived A Hard Life After Their Success". I Love Old School Music. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  6. "Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead". MTV. 6 April 1998. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  7. djvlad, Fab Morvan on the Rise and Fall of Milli Vanilli (Full Interview), retrieved 20 January 2019
  8. Lindvall, Helienne (30 July 2010). "Behind the Music: Beyond Bertrand lies a history of plastic performances | Helienne Lindvall". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  9. Pilikington, Ed (7 February 2007). "Hollywood pays lip service to Milli Vanilli". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  10. "Whatever happened to Boney M?". 29 January 2002. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  11. "Milli Vanilli: Billboard Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  12. Guzmán, Rafer (10 February 2008). "Not every Grammy decision was a winner". Newsday. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  13. Goodman, Fred; Trakin, Roy (30 November 1990). "Artificial Vanilli". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  14. Holden, Stephen (5 December 1990). "Winner of Grammy Lost By Milli Vanilli: No One". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  15. "A Grammy Curse? Milli Vanilli's Fab Morvan, Others Reflect on Best New Artist Award". Billboard. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  16. Dowell, Gary; Evans, Isaiah. Halperin, James L. (ed.). Heritage Music and Entertainment Dallas Signature Auction Catalog #622. Jones, Kim. 2006. p. 34. ISBN 1-59967-081-X.
  17. Elliott, Stuart (14 June 1991). "Milli Vanilli Appears Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  18. Strauss, Neil (7 April 1998). "Robert Pilatus, 33, Performer in Disgraced Band Milli Vanilli". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  19. Chris, Willman. "The Sad Truth". Entertainment Weekly. p. 2. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  20. "Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead at 32". Rolling Stone. 7 April 1998. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  21. "Wie meine Stimme ohne mich Karriere machte – Beerdigung von Robert Pilatus". Der Spiegel (in German). 2 September 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
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