They sold 30 million records but never sang a single note! Discover the biggest scandal in music history

Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston… the 1980s saw the rise of many pop icons. This decade also saw the emergence of groups, with more or less ephemeral success, who spent their hour of glory in the hit. Among them is Milli Vanilli, whose journey has a Hollywood script.

for the new generation”The Millie Vanilla Scandal“It doesn’t mean anything. In 1990 it was a media affair that was commented on around the world and, more simply, one of the biggest frauds in music history. How can two men, Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, become world stars without singing a single note?

Watch our interview with Fab Morvan above.

The question is answered by the documentary film Milli Vanilli directed by Luke Correm. In less than two hours, this full-length film traces how it all began: two uncertain young men, a scheming producer, a contract that could pay off big, and a rule revealed after signing:you will not sing.” It was too late to go back, the car was already running.

The film brilliantly explores the manipulation mechanism and professional influence that a powerful producer – here, Frank Farian – can have on young artists. It’s impossible when we think of Milli Vanille’s story not to think of another controlled and muted fate like Britney Spears – whose memoir has just been published. The story of a star preoccupied with other issues is very different, but in both cases it is about artists who become objects.

artistic exploitation

Narrated in part by Fab Morvan, one of the band’s two members – Rob Pilatus died of an overdose in April 1998 – the documentary explains how, after Boney M, producers have long used the image of black artists to enrich themselves. “Frank Farian earned more than $250 million with Milli Vanilli“, the singer told AlloCiné.

and continues. This documentary is produced by Fab Morvan, but the biopic project directed by Simon Verhoeven – no relation to Paul Verhoeven – is the producer’s initiative. The first images of the film It was revealed on the Internet.

On streaming platforms, Milli Vanilli continues to collect a lot of streams – more than a million per month on one of them. Fab Morvan’s image is used on all the visuals, but the artist gets nothing: “Zero for 35 years. I have no copyright, only image rights that do not make money.”

Today, this singer has passed away, but his story is inseparable from his band. The documentary expresses his desire for justice and truth.

Comments collected by Thomas Desorcs, October 25, 2023, Paris.

Milli Vanilli is available on Paramount+.