Rob Pilatus, half of the German lip-synching duo Milli Vanilli, was
discovered dead in a Frankfurt hotel room last week, according to Germany's
Bild am Sonntag newspaper. The singer, who seven years ago
attempted suicide in the wake of the
scandal that stripped the group of its
1990 Grammy, died Thursday after ingesting a mixture of unidentified pills
and alcohol according to an Associated Press report quoting the
paper. Pilatus was 32.
With his partner Fabrice Morvan, Pilatus sold 30 million singles in the
late 1980s under the moniker Milli Vanilli. Among the group's world-wide
hits were "Girl You Know It's True" and "Blame It On The Rain."
In 1990, only months after receiving a Grammy Award for "Best New Artist,"
Milli Vanilli were forced to admit that not only had they lip-synched their
public performances, but that they were merely a public face for the studio
musicians who had actually recorded their hit singles and multi-platinum
debut album Girl You Know It's True. An embarrassed Grammy
committee revoked their award later that year.
Former Milli Vanilli manager Frank Farian -- the producer who
masterminded the group's bid at stardom -- said Pilatus had recently been in
treatment for drug addiction, according to the AP report.
An autopsy to determine the precise cause of Pilatus' death is underway.
|
