Fabrice Morvan, one half of the notorious pop duo Milli Vanilli, has been nominated for a Grammy for the audiobook of his memoir, three decades after the group’s award was rescinded. The 2026 nomination for best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording marks a remarkable turnaround for Morvan, who faced public humiliation after it emerged that the duo did not sing on their records.
Morvan, now 59, narrates You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli, which he co-wrote with journalist Parisa Rose. “It’s all me,” he said, confirming his involvement. “Throughout I have been as truthful as I can possibly be.” The book details the duo’s rapid rise to fame in the late 1980s, when they sold over 37 million singles and albums in 1989 alone, and their dramatic fall after producer Frank Farian revealed they were “non-singing performers”.
The scandal led to the rescinding of their 1990 Grammy for best new artist, the cancellation of their recording contract, and intense media scrutiny. Morvan described the experience as “awful”, recalling a press conference in November 1990 where they faced a “media lynch mob”. His partner Rob Pilatus struggled with addiction and died of an overdose in 1998 at the age of 33.
In recent years, there has been a reconsideration of Milli Vanilli’s legacy, with documentaries and a biopic exploring the exploitation of two young Black performers by white executives. Morvan said he wrote the book to free himself from the burden of the past. “The truth will set you free,” he said, adding that his partner encouraged him to tell the whole story, despite his reluctance to speak ill of Pilatus.
