Grammy nominations came out on Friday. Many of the names on the list were not big surprises, like Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, and Bad Bunny. A clip of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande finding out in real time that they had been nominated circulated online all weekend. However, there was one unexpected yet notable nominee that has people talking: Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli fame.
It’s been 35 years since Fab and his former bandmate, Rob Pilatus (RIP), rocked the music world with a lip-syncing scandal that resulted in MV becoming the first and only Grammy winners to have their award (for Best New Artist) revoked. Fab’s nomination, which is his first since then, is for Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording. That audio book he’s narrating? It’s a memoir about what happened with MV, titled, You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli.”
“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.’ ”
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.
“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.”
The other nominees in Fab’s category are the Dalai Lama, Kathy Garver, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Trevor Noah, so it’s a pretty stacked list. I was too young (six) to know anything about the Milli Vanilli controversy while it was happening, so most of my knowledge and opinion comes from what I’ve watched and read about it. As an adult, I know that the music industry has more than its fair share of shady and controversial behind-the-scenes stories. It wouldn’t surprise me if Fab’s account about his and Rob’s experience was closer to the truth than the “official” narrative has led us to believe.
Regardless, Fab’s nomination has a very full-circle feel to it. It would be some crazy Universe karma if he ended up winning a Grammy for narrating a book that tells his side of the story about having his only previous Grammy revoked. I actually had no idea that he had a memoir out, so even this nomination alerting people about it is a PR win for him. I know Fab’s been trying to have a proper comeback for years. I wonder if getting his side of the story out there will be the catalyst he needs to stage a comeback.
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