Milli Vanilli - "Girl you know it's true"

Ironically, the song “Girl you know it’s true” reached its peak American chart position of #2 on April Fool's Day in 1989.

Ironically, because Milli Vanilli are notorious for being the only group to have their Grammy Award stripped from them after it was revealed that they had not been involved in the creation of their breakthrough album and did not sing in concert.
Rapper Charles Shaw and singers John Davis and Brad Howell were the ones whose voices actually appeared on the record. Frank Farian (the man who created the group) used Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan to front Shaw, Davis and Howell because he felt that these musicians were talented but unmarketable.

Shaw was the one who first spilled the beans about Pilatus and Morvan (the faces of the group) not being the voices on the record and lip-synching during live representations. Embarrassed by the situation, Morvan and Pilatus confronted Farian and insisted that he allow them to sing on their next album. Farian, however, had no interest in agreeing to this, so revealed the truth to reporters on November 15, 1990 after the record of Girl You Know It's True skipped during a live performance on MTV : at a concert in Bristol, Connecticut, the tape skipped, repeating the line "Girl you know it's..." over and over. Pilatus and Morvan sung with it for a little while, and then ran off stage. The crowd didn't seem to care, but the media made a big deal out of it, and they were exposed soon after Farian’s revelation. The Grammy was rescinded four days later, Arista (the record company) dropped the act from its rosters and a court ruling in the US allowed anyone who had bought the album to get a refund (!!!).

For many cultural critics, Milli Vanilli’s story seemed to be a perfect representation of the artificial, pre-packaged nature of the pop music industry itself.

Shaw, Davis and Howell later released an album as “The Real Milli Vanilli”.
Morvan started a solo career, performing light alternative music that is far from his glory days with Milli Vanilli.
Pilatus began a series of criminal acts, arrested for assault and vandalism, among other crimes, in Los Angeles. He died in 1998, at the age of 32, after overdosing on a combination of drugs and alcohol.

Available on “Girl you know it’s true”