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John Davis, one of the real singers behind the disgraced pop duo Milli Vanilli – obituary

John Davis in 2018 - Nico Schimmelpfennig/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB
John Davis in 2018 - Nico Schimmelpfennig/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB

John Davis, the singer, who has died of Covid-19 aged 66, was one of the voices behind Milli Vanilli, the German pop duo who were forced to hand back a Grammy award for best new artist after it emerged that they had not sung a note on their platinum-selling 1988 album All or Nothing (which was repackaged for the US market the following year as Girl You Know It’s True).

When Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, two singers who had met at a club in Munich and gone on to record an album for a small German label, went into the studio with the producer Frank Farian to record the track Girl You Know It’s True, he was unimpressed with their performances, recalling: “They didn’t have enough quality.”

So Farian, believing that the good-looking pair would nonetheless make good frontmen, recorded the song using John Davis, alongside Charles Shaw, Brad Howell and Jodie and Linda Rocco.

Davis recalled Farian smuggling him into the studio at night to record his vocal parts, and only later realised why: “One evening I was sitting at home watching my TV,” he said, “and I saw Fab singing Girl I’m Gonna Miss You.”

Farian had named the act Milli Vanilli, and the track went on to be a Top Ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic. “Now you have to go through with it,” he told Morvan and Pilatus. “I’ll cover you guys. Nobody will find out.”

The debut album All or Nothing went gold in Germany and silver in the UK and the pair won a Grammy as Best New Artists; Davis and his colleagues were listed as backing singers.

Rob PIlatus and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli - Michael Putland/Getty Images
Rob PIlatus and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli - Michael Putland/Getty Images

But when Morvan and Pilatus were lip-synching at a gig in Connecticut and the backing broke down questions began to be asked, and when the pair insisted to Farian that they be allowed to sing on the follow-up album he sacked them and issued a statement confessing the truth.

Davis defended Farian. “I find the criticism Frank is getting kind of unfair because it’s been done 100 times before,” he said. “The kids want someone who’s nice and pretty.”

He was asked where that left him. “Oh, I’m beautiful,” he replied.

Davis performs with Fab Morvan on German television in 2018  - Tristar Media/Getty Images
Davis performs with Fab Morvan on German television in 2018 - Tristar Media/Getty Images

Davis and Brad Howell were then billed as the Real Milli Vanilli on the 1991 album The Moment of Truth. Produced by Farian, it spawned a clutch of singles, one of which, Keep on Running, reached No 4 in Germany. Morvan and Pilatus, meanwhile, were stripped of their Grammy.

John Davis was born on August 31 1954 in Anderson, South Carolina. He served with the US Army in Germany in the mid-1970s and became involved in the music scene there after his discharge. As a bassist he released an eponymous funk album with his band Joker, but became a session singer.

Davis was happy to let Pilatus and Morvan – “those cats with the real nice-looking faces,” as he described them – to be the frontmen. “The more they sold, the more I got in royalties.”

Morvan and Pilatus formed a new act, Rob & Fab, but it was short-lived. Later, Davis joined forces with Morvan in a duo they self-reflexively named Face Meets Voice. Pilatus died of a prescription drugs overdose aged 32 in 1998.

Davis had a busy career in Germany, his projects including, in 2009, Simply the Best – Pop meets Klassik! with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. He also worked with the former Animals singer Eric Burdon.

John Davis, who did not marry but had a long-term partner, is survived by seven children.

John Davis, born August 31 1954, died May 24 2021