Who was the real voice behind the fraud that turned out to be the duo Milli Vanilli
John Davis, the ghost singer of one of the biggest music scams in America.
The duo Milli Vanilli, consisting of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morva, was active from 1988 to 1990. Their glory days ended when at a concert in Bristol in late 1989, the music broke down and the chorus began to repeat. in loop. At the time, the two artists did not know how to handle the situation and left the stage in a rush.
Despite the fact that the public, around 15,000 people, was not aware at that time of what had just happened, the national and international media began to spread the news: 'Milli Vanilli did not sing her pop hits', headlined The New York Times.
One of the members of the duo, Rob Pilatus, couldn't take it anymore, turned his back on the audience and ran backstage. The tape had jammed and it looked like his big secret would be revealed. But nothing happened. In fact, that concert in Connecticut in 1989 continued. Someone, after a few minutes, convinced Pilatus to return to the scene. Milli Vanilli continued acting and the audience dancing and screaming without realizing the reality.
Although the event catapulted the end for the most famous duo of the decade, Milli Vanilli continued to sell millions of records. His first and only album sold seven million copies in the United States alone. Three of his songs reached number one in the ranking and two others climbed to the top five. In addition to the sales, they also got awards. Several American Music Awards and the Grammy for best new artist.
The members of Milli Vanilli were stripped of the "Grammy" awards they had won in 1990 for the best new artist, after it was known that they had not sung a single note of "Girl You Know It’s True."
A few months later it was all over and Milli Vanilli went from great success to becoming synonymous with fraud. It was singled out as the biggest hoax in the modern recording industry.
The person who started this great fraud was Frank Farian, who knew the world of music. He knew that with a good song, an attractive production, a current sound, good voices and a strong stage image, the production was put by him. That's when he armed Milli Vanilli, taking advantage of the physical attractiveness and abilities of the two young black men, one German and the other French, who were seeking success with their performances in Munich.
Thus was born Milli Vanilli. Until the disaster showed up at the Connecticut concert.
However, thanks to the controversy, the real star behind this duo was known: John Davis, a singer who on May 24 died as another of the millions of victims of COVID-19.
Davis was born in South Carolina, but in the early 1980s he settled in Germany. There he made a living with his voice. He was a singer at private parties and discos, and even made some professional recordings as a showgirl. He was a typical soul singer with a velvety but powerful voice.
After the Milli Vanilli scandal, Davis participated in the other unsuccessful reincarnations of the group. When the waves of fame and scandal passed, Davis continued his life in Germany. In recent years he made music for audiovisual productions and gave concerts throughout Europe, singing old black music hits, including, of course, some songs by the duo.
His daughter reported John's death on social media. “He made a lot of people happy. With his laughter, with his happy spirit, with his love, but especially with his music. Please, let's give him one last round of applause, ”wrote Jasmin Davis. (I)
