Rob Pilatus
| Rob Pilatus | |
|---|---|
Pilatus (right) at the 1990 Grammy Awards
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Pilatus |
| Born |
8 June 1965 Munich, Germany |
| Died | April 2, 1998 (aged 32) Friedrichsdorf, Germany |
| Genres | Dance, pop, rap, funk |
| Years active | 1988–1998 |
| Labels | Arista Records, BMG, Hansa Records, Taj |
| Associated acts | Milli Vanilli, Rob & Fab |
Robert "Rob" Pilatus (8 June 1965 – 2 April 1998) was a German model, dancer, and singer. Pilatus was half of the pop music duo Milli Vanilli.
Rob Pilatus was born in Munich, Germany, the son of an African American soldier and a white German dancer. He was adopted as an infant by a German family. Pilatus worked as a model and break dancer, also appearing as a backing singer with the group Wind at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels before joining Fab Morvan in 1988 to form the pop group Milli Vanilli.
Pilatus and Morvan were noticed by music producer Frank Farian, who signed them to be part of a musical act. Shortly after a trip to Turkey, where the duo reputedly took its name from a local advertising slogan, Milli Vanilli was born. Pilatus and Morvan served as the public faces for singers Charles Shaw and Brad Howell, whom Farian thought were vocally talented 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 21 February 1990, for "Girl You Know It's True".
Despite the enormous success, the duo were a frequent target of rumours and allegations of onstage lip-synching and not having sung on the album. Charles Shaw, one of the actual vocalists, told a reporter the truth, but retracted his statement after Farian paid him $150,000.
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