Frank Farian, the German producer who concocted the group ‘Milli Vanilli’ in the 1980s, has reportedly died at the age of 82. The group Milli Vanilli were eventually exposed as lip-syncers who had never actually performed any of their songs.
Farian reportedly worked this scam with several other bands, almost always using the vocals of studio musicians instead of his so-called stars. The New York Times reports on his passing…
He had worldwide success with the disco group Boney M. He was better known for a duo that had hit records but, it turned out, only pretended to sing.
Frank Farian, the hit-making German record producer who masterminded the model-handsome dance-pop duo Milli Vanilli and propelled them to Grammy-winning heights — until it was revealed that they were little more than lip-syncing marionettes — died on Tuesday at his home in Miami. He was 82.
His death was announced by Philip Kallrath of Allendorf Media, a spokesman for Mr. Farian’s family.
Mr. Farian was no stranger to the pop charts in the late 1980s, when he brought together Rob Pilatus, the son of an American serviceman and a German dancer, and Fab Morvan, a French singer and dancer, to create one of pop music’s most sugary bonbons.
