He was the musical head behind pop bands like Boney M. and Milli Vanilli and produced world hits from Rosbach vor der Höhe. Now music producer Frank Farian has died at the age of 82.
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Video 02:25 min. | 01/23/24, 7:30 p.m. |hessenschau
Music producer Frank Farian is dead
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The German pop music producer and former pop singer Frank Farian is dead. He died at the age of 82 in his adopted home of Miami in the USA, the Allendorf Media agency announced on Tuesday, citing his family.
Farian was born Franz Reuther in Kirn, Rhineland-Palatinate in 1941 and grew up in Saarland. With more than 800 million records sold worldwide, he is considered the most internationally successful music producer from Germany and has worked with stars such as Meat Loaf and Stevie Wonder.
Successful songs made in Hesse
Farian celebrated his greatest successes from the 1970s onwards as a producer for the disco band Boney M. and songs such as “Rasputin”, “Rivers of Babylon” and “Daddy Cool” as well as the pop duo Milli Vanilli. Many hits were created in his recording studio in Rosbach vor der Höhe (Wetterau) and in Offenbach-Bieber.
The first Milli Vanilli album was certified six times platinum in the USA in 1989, and the duo won a Grammy for best new artist. At the beginning of the 1990s it became known that the two members of the band Milli Vanilli, Robert “Rob” Pilatus and Fabrice “Fab” Morvan, did not sing hits like “I’m Gonna Miss You” or “Girl You Know It’s True” themselves .
Minister of State for Culture: Big loss for the music world
“His music will live on,” Fabrice Morvan said on Tuesday. “We can never deny the happiness and joy she brought into this world.”
The Federal Government’s Minister of State for Culture, Claudia Roth (Greens), described Farian’s death as a great loss for the music world. “He was one of the first to prove that pop music from Germany can also be internationally successful.”
He created a completely new sound from disco, soul and pop that was danced to all over the world, says Roth.
Movie about Milli Vanilli
The story of the Milli Vanilli cheating scandal can currently be seen in the movie “Girl You Know It’s True” with Matthias Schweighöfer in the role of the music producer.
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In an interview with the Saarbrücker Zeitung in December, Farian was enthusiastic about Schweighöfer’s acting performance and announced a new Milli Vanilli album with previously unreleased songs.
Director Simon Verhoeven called Farian “a talent of the century” on Tuesday. He supported the film plans from the beginning – “even though my script was quite critical of it,” says Verhoeven. He will always be grateful to Farian for that.
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