Frank Farian

Frank Farian created two of the world’s best-selling pop groups, <a href="spotify:artist:54R6Y0I7jGUCveDTtI21nb">Boney M</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3vRclCt9VnNhYIxFMQCxuM">Milli Vanilli</a>. His father was killed in World War II, and Farian grew up in the 1950s listening to U.S. and U.K. pop music. His first group was named after <a href="spotify:artist:03hfAxVdAWj7kxDnSG0fLD">the Shadows</a>, but by the mid-'60s he was a convert to soul music, leading a band devoted to performing cover versions of U.S. hits. In the early '70s, he switched to ballad singing for the Hansa-Ariola label. Among his successes were "Dana My Love" (1972) and "Rocky" which was number one in Germany in 1976. The same year, Farian joined the disco boom by writing and producing with session singers "Baby Do Ya Wanna Bump?" The track’s success in the Netherlands led Farian to form a recording and touring group, <a href="spotify:artist:54R6Y0I7jGUCveDTtI21nb">Boney M</a>, which went on to notch over a dozen European and U.K. hits during the next five years. During the late '70s, he also produced a version of <a href="spotify:artist:5dM7jA0PXh0Ozz8LT2YOCB">Ann Peebles</a>' "I Can’t Stand the Rain" and other hits by the disco group <a href="spotify:artist:3R6f1aBWwde7ZqGv7hf4dY">Eruption</a>.

Farian’s lack of U.S. success with <a href="spotify:artist:54R6Y0I7jGUCveDTtI21nb">Boney M</a> was rectified by his next best-selling act. In his studio near Munich during 1987, he produced tracks under the name <a href="spotify:artist:3vRclCt9VnNhYIxFMQCxuM">Milli Vanilli</a>, recruiting Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan to front the group on live gigs. The group had number one hits in America with their first three singles in 1989 and had two best-selling albums. But <a href="spotify:artist:3vRclCt9VnNhYIxFMQCxuM">Milli Vanilli</a>'s career ended suddenly when Farian admitted that <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pilatus%22">Pilatus</a> and Morvan had not sung on the band’s records. He relaunched the group in 1991 as the Real Milli Vanilli, using Brad Howell, <a href="spotify:artist:0sIdxoxAYfreImBKWXiHNx">Johnny Davis</a>, and Charles Shaw, the singers from the original studio sessions. Frank Farian died on January 23, 2024; he was 82 years of age. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi