MIAMI (CelebrityAccess) — Frank Farian, the German singer and producer best known as the co-founder of the disco-pop group Boney M and the German R&B act Milli Vanilli, has died. He was 82.
According to the New York Times, Farian died on Tuesday at his home in Miami, but a cause of death was not provided.
Born as Franz Reuther in Kirn in eastern Germany in 1941, Farian trained as a cook before discovering rock & roll. He released his first single, a cover of Otis Redding’s “Mr. Pitiful” as Frankie Farian in 1967 and after signing a contract as a solo performer, he went on to release a successful series of German covers of popular songs.
In 1974, he recruited a lineup of vocalists and dancers that included Bobby Farrell, Liz Mitchell, and Marcia Barrett to form the disco group M Boney, scoring a string of hits in Europe such as “Daddy Cool”, “Rivers of Babylon”, and “Rasputin.”
His other projects included the supergroup Far Corporation, featuring Toto’s Steve Lukather, David Paich, Bobby Kimball, Simon Phillips, which broke into the top ten in the UK in 1985 with a cover of the Led Zeppelin classic “Stairway to Heaven.”
In 1988, he recruited Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus to front the vocal R&B group Milli Vanilli. After achieving international success with hits such as “Baby Don’t Forget My Number”, the duo was exposed for lip-syncing during a show in Connecticut in 1989. During the subsequent media furor, it was revealed that Morvan and Pilatus had not provided vocals for Milli Vanilli’s albums, leading to widespread mockery of the duo, bringing their short career to an end.
Undeterred by the setback, Farian went on to found similar vocal groups, including La Bouche, Le Click, and the Latin pop band No Mercy.
He also went on to produce Daddy Cool, a West End musical that featured songs from Farian’s various projects, including M Boney, La Bouche, and Milli Vanilli.
Farian lived in Florida with his his long-time partner, Chinya Onyewenjo, and a son. He had three daughters with a previous wife.
