Rob Pilatus

Robert "Rob" Pilatus (June 8, 1964 – 2 April 1998) was a German model, dancer, and singer. Pilatus was half of the pop music duo Milli Vanilli.

Biography

Early life

Rob Pilatus was born in Munich, Germany, the son of an American soldier and a German mother. 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.

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".