Rob Pilate

Rob Pilatus (right) at the 1990 Grammy Awards

Robert Pilatus (born June 8, 1964 in Munich , † April 3, 1998 in Friedrichsdorf near Frankfurt am Main ) was a German dancer and singer . He became known as part of the pop duo Milli Vanilli .

Life

Pilatus was born to a US father and a German mother and was later adopted by the Pilatus couple from Munich . His adoptive father died in 1990.

In 1987 Pilatus took part in the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels with the Wind group . The title Let the sun in your heart reached the 2nd place.

From 1988 Pilatus was part of the pop duo Milli Vanilli alongside the French Fabrice Morvan . The breakthrough came in the fall of that year with the title Girl You Know It's True . Pilatus appeared as a singer and dancer in videos and at public events; in fact, studio musicians did the vocals. However, this was only admitted by the producer Frank Farian after the playback tape got stuck during a performance during the US tour.

After Milli Vanilli broke up in the early 1990s, Pilatus and Morvan founded the Rob & Fab duo . However, this was unsuccessful and Pilate got into trouble with the police in Los Angeles, who arrested him for assault and vandalism, among other things. Frank Farian supported him with money and a German lawyer who helped him to get an acquittal. He was convicted of drug possession in 1995 but committed several offenses, including robbery and fraud, during his suspended sentence. After this time and after returning to Germany, Pilatus repeatedly tried alcohol therapy and waited to start new projects with Farian.

On April 3, 1998, Farian found him dead in a hotel room in Friedrichsdorf near Frankfurt am Main. The autopsy revealed an overdose of alcohol and other drugs. Rob Pilatus was buried in the forest cemetery in Munich (old part).

literature

Ingeborg Schober : Pop tragedies: the most spectacular cases from the Beach Boys to Nirvana . Ueberreuter, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-8000-7004-9 .

Web links

Rob Pilatus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Rob Pilatus in the database of Find a Grave (English)
Neil Strauss: Robert Pilatus, 32, performer in Disgraced Band Milli Vanilli . In: The New York Times . April 7, 1998 (English, nytimes.com ).

Individual evidence

↑ Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead. In: Mtv.com. April 6, 1998, accessed August 28, 2008 . Chris Willman: The Sad Truth - Mourning Rob Pilatus… In: Entertainment Weekly . April 17, 1998 (English, 2 pages, ew.com ( memento of January 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )).

↑ Music: Frank Farian's Messages for a Good World. In: welt.de . March 6, 2007, accessed October 7, 2018 .

↑ The US authorities are looking for Rob Pilate . In: MusikWoche . The news magazine for the music industry . No. 50 , December 8, 1997, This Week. News, S. 4 .

↑ Lana Fanelli: Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead At 33. In: Rolling Stone. April 7, 1998, accessed December 30, 2010 .

personal data
SURNAME	Pilate, Rob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Pilatus, Robert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German dancer and singer
DATE OF BIRTH	June 8, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH	Munich
DATE OF DEATH	April 3, 1998
Place of death	Friedrichsdorf near Frankfurt am Main

[1] Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead. In: Mtv.com. April 6, 1998, accessed August 28, 2008 . Chris Willman: The Sad Truth - Mourning Rob Pilatus… In: Entertainment Weekly . April 17, 1998 (English, 2 pages, ew.com ( memento of January 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )).

[welt-747566-2] Music: Frank Farian's Messages for a Good World. In: welt.de . March 6, 2007, accessed October 7, 2018 .

[3] The US authorities are looking for Rob Pilate . In: MusikWoche . The news magazine for the music industry . No. 50 , December 8, 1997, This Week. News, S. 4 .

[4] Lana Fanelli: Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead At 33. In: Rolling Stone. April 7, 1998, accessed December 30, 2010 .