90S DANCE MIX TOUR
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.
When: Sunday, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $49.50-$89.50 through the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office (250-220-7777) or
Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli landed in a Calgary airport Wednesday afternoon, direct from his home in Amsterdam. This is noteworthy because it means Morvan is now just days away from starting his redemption tour of Canada.
The 58 year-old has not been in the country in a professional capacity since 1990, when the group Morvan joined in 1987 won a Juno Award for international album of the year. The trophy won by Morvan and bandmate Rob Pilatus, for their multi-platinum 1989 debut, Girl You Know It’s True, was later revoked, once it was discovered the material on the album was sung by three uncredited men.
Pilatus and Morvan, who eventually admitted to lip-synching on stage, were also stripped of their best new artist Grammy Award, and subsequently thrust from the industry. “It has been quite the journey,” Morvan told the Times 91原创, shortly after arriving in Calgary. “I had to pay a high price for my mistakes. But you live and learn.”
Morvan has been touring throughout Europe in recent months as he tries to restart his career. Morvan will perform at the the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Sunday alongside members of Technotronic, Snap!, Haddaway and 2 Unlimited as part of the 90s Dance Mix Tour. He will be in good company in Victoria, surrounded by fellow artists who have endured similar swings in popularity and endured multiple line-up changes.
The throwback dance-pop showcase, which is part of an eight-city 91原创 run that starts Friday in Calgary, will be hosted by Rick (The Temp) Campanelli, formerly of Much Music, and will include a video dance party by Calgary’s DJ Kav. There’s a distinct retro vibe to the proceedings, but the associated groups are still finding ways to be relevant.
Haddaway — whose smash hit, What Is Love, was made famous by an iconic Saturday Night Live skit co-starring Will Ferrell — has a new studio album (his first since 2005) ready for release, while 2 Unlimited, Snap! and Technotronic remain active on the tour circuit. Membership in each group remains somewhat liquid, however.
Technotronic is now led by back-up singer Daisy Dee, while German Eurodance group Snap! is fronted by Turbo B, who lent his raps to the band’s hit singles, Ooops Up and The Power. 2 Unlimited is led by original rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Michèle Karamat Ali, who joined in 2022.
Milli Vanilli remains the biggest act of the bunch, despite the 1998 death of co-frontman Rob Pilatus, who died of an accidental drug overdose. Morvan, Milli Vanilli’s lone remaining member, is integral to the success of the 90s Dance Mix Tour as the group remains a big pop culture talking point in 2025.
Scandal notwithstanding, the fascination surrounding the group has not ebbed. The first act to ever have a Grammy revoked by the academy which issued it was the subject of a popular Paramount+ documentary (Milli Vanilli) in 2023, followed by a poorly-received dramatic biopic (Girl You Know It’s True) in 2024.
Morvan earned some redemption when the popular Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, sent three vintage Milli Vanilli hits used throughout the series (Blame it on the Rain, I’m Gonna Miss You, and Girl You Know It’s True) back onto the charts last year.
“I’m pleased they picked up the music,” Morvan said. “It brought us back. Now, the youth has been exposed to it. My goddaughter, who is 18 years old, tells me that in school the kids all sing those songs. That’s wild. Unfortunately, my partner is not here now, because of the aftermath, because of everything that happened.”
The resurgence has given Morvan a platform in the press to speak on how he was treated after the fallout from lip-synching, telling the Times 91原创 the new music he’s making is what saved him in the end. The old music, of course, remains a top priority.
“On this tour, a lot of the people who are going to be in the audience never got a chance to see me perform those songs,” he said. “This will be a chance for me to take them in a time machine to old times.”
Morvan said his record-setting initial run with Milli Vanilli generated $300 million dollars for its parent label, Arista, which had full knowledge they were lip-synching. To have iconic executives like Clive Davis (who oversaw the project) eventually turn on Morvan and Pilatus was hurtful but predictable. What’s more, the public drubbing clouded the fact that Milli Vanilli was simply a pop group, with real people at its core.
“People forgot that Rob and Fab were human beings in the end,” he said. “We were thrown to the wolves, and into the trash. They thought they would never hear from me again.”
When asked if his eventual return, on his own terms, provides him with a sense of vindication, Morvan dispelled the notion. “The journey has morphed me into a different human being. I don’t think of vindication as I did maybe 20 years ago. No, I don’t do that any more. When you travel in those waters, it will affect you. I forgave the label, I forgave all the people who bullied us.”
He’s all about positivity, having survived one of the most turbulent journeys in contemporary music history. “Love yourself, and if you fall, stand back up,” he said. “It’s all up to you. Whatever you do in life, anything is possible.”
