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Fab Morvan has earned his first Grammy nod since his and the late Rob Pilatus’ award for Best New Artist was revoked over three decades ago.
On Nov. 7, the former Milli Vanilli member received a Grammy nomination for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording for the reading of his memoir, You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli.
In the 1980s, the German R&B duo took the world by storm with hits like “Girl You Know It’s True” and “Blame It on the Rain.” But everything changed when it was revealed the two stars weren’t actually the vocalists on any of Milli Vanilli’s songs, resulting in the Recording Academy revoking their best new artist award in 1990 for the first — and only — time in history.
“People always thought they knew the story, but my story has never been told,” Morvan told PEOPLE in October 2023, ahead of the release of his documentary, Milli Vanilli.
For his part, director Luke Korem was inspired to make the documentary, which was later followed by a biopic directed by Simon Verhoeven and a memoir penned by Morvan, to expose the truth behind the duo’s complicated story.
“I watched a YouTube video of Fabrice telling his story at The Moth in New York City, and at the end he sang,” Korem explained at the time. “He had this beautiful voice, and I thought, ‘Wait a minute. I thought the story was that these two guys were talentless frauds. I didn’t know he could sing.’ ”
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As for what actually led to Milli Vanilli’s rapid downfall? Morvan had met label executive Frank Farian in 1987, who soon after offered him and Pilatus a record deal. So, the pair allegedly signed the deal without reading it — only to later realize that Farian had no plans for them to sing. Rather, they had agreed to lip sync to songs already recorded by American vocalists Charles Shaw, John Davis and Brad Howell.
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“Every time we came to the studio we tried to look for people. There was nobody there,” Morvan emphasized to PEOPLE. “They made sure that we never came in contact.”
As soon as their “secret” was outed to the public, the duo became the subject of hate, racism and scorn. “We went from being these loved characters to being laughed at and ridiculed,” Morvan added. “We were the butt of all the jokes and easy targets. It was ugly. Rob took it really personally.”
After decades of being shunned by the public, Morvan has been sharing the story behind the fall of Milli Vanilli from his perspective in addition to releasing new music and performing as a solo artist. He also released a new version of “Girl You Know It’s True” in August 2024.
“I never really think about fame, but I do come from a family of musicians. People don’t know that — traditional Caribbean music,” he told Interview magazine that December. “I have a lot of composers in my family, so it was in the DNA. When it comes to what I am musically, you will discover that you haven’t seen anything yet. It’s something I was born with, and when you’re born with something, it stays with you forever.”
