Which pop duo was fined for using someone else's voices?

Answer 1

Lip Syncing DuoAre you thinking of Milli Vanilli? Yes.

Milli Vanilli is the correct answer, but they were never "fined" for their actions. They just lost respect and credibilty when everyone found out they were fakes. The actual singers were Brad Howell and John Davis, who were labeled as "not photogenic enough for Mtv". The rapper was Charles Shaw, who was most prominent on "Girl You Know It's True". Shaw had claimed he was the rapper, but later took it back. When the 3 tried to deal with Farian and his deceptions, Farain threatened to ban them from his studios and not work with them at all.

Producer Frank Farian took the songs the real singers made to Arista Records (who kept the whole deal hush-hush), and hired the very young and naive Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan to be the dancers and "lip-synchers" for the Music Videos. Their good looks, Farian thought, would help sell the music. Milli Vanilli had 4 huge hits in 1989 and 1 more in 1990.

These were "Girl You Know It's True" (#2) the title track of the album. "Baby,Don't Forget My Number" (#1) "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" (#1) Blame It On The Rain (#1) and 1990's "All Or Nothing" (#4). They even guest starred on the short lived 1989 NBC sitcom "Sister Kate", supposedly singing "Blame It On The Rain".

During a 1989 concert, the recorded track they were lip-syching too, somehow began "skipping", with the line "Girl You Know It's .." repeating over and over! Which started the suspicion of them being fake. Farian later simply threw them to the media wolves!

They were later stripped of their "Best New Artist" of 1989 Grammy Award on November 19th, 1989. It was the Grammy's hugest embarrasment ever, and it was decided that no one would receive the award at all for 1989.

They tried a comeback in 1992 by renaming their act Rob & Fab and performed their single,"We Can Get It On", live on "The Arsenio Hall Show". (Arsenio had made fun of them for over a year in his opening monolouges. It changed nothing for the two and they went their separate ways.

Later, just months after "VH1's:"Behind The Music" did an episode about Milli Vanilli, Rob Pilatus commited suicide in 1998 by overdosing on pills and alcohol. (He had tried to end it in 1991 when he was found dangling outside a hotel window.) His own family had disowned him out of shame and embarrassment.

Fab Morvan still sings and records raggae music.