John Davis (August 31, 1954 – May 24, 2021) was an American singer based in Germany. He was one of the real vocalists for

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli were a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, '' All or Nothing'' in Europe, reconfigured as ''Girl You Know It's True'' in ...

and

The Real Milli Vanilli The Real Milli Vanilli was a pop music group that consisted of some of the original singers from Milli Vanilli, Brad Howell and John Davis, as well as new singers Gina Mohammed and Ray Horton and several "special guests," including Tammy T, Icy ...

who, along with

Brad Howell Brad Howell is an American keyboardist, pianist and singer, known as the singer who provided the vocals for German band Chilly and the actual vocals lip-synced by Rob Pilatus for the musical duo Milli Vanilli. Career When Howell became a keyboa ...

, Charles Shaw and backup vocalists Linda Rocco & Jodie Rocco, provided the real vocals for Milli Vanilli.John Davis, Real Milli Vanilli Singer, Dies of COVID-19 at 66
Variety.com

Early life

Davis was born on August 31, 1954, in

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Davis lived most of his life in Germany after he was stationed there in the 1970s while serving in the US Army.

Music career

During the 1970s Davis played his music in Army clubs in Germany. He began singing for Milli Vanilli in the 1980s after meeting German music producer

Frank Farian Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vo ...

. Farian approached Davis to work on a project with him, but did not disclose the details of the project, which were that Davis's voice would be used for other performers to lip-sync. Davis realized only later that his voice was being used by

Fabrice Morvan Fabrice Maxime Sylvain Morvan (born 14 May 1966) is a French singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and model. He was half of the pop duo Milli Vanilli, along with Rob Pilatus, selling multi-platinum albums around the world. However, he was later in ...

, one of two pretend singers of the duo Milli Vanilli, the other being

Rob Pilatus Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ...

. Morvan and Davis performed together on the project "Face Meets Voice" in later years, and they appeared together on German television in 2015.

Albums

In 1984 Davis released an electro album called ''Destination Earth''. After it was revealed that Morvan and Pilatus were not the true singers for Milli Vanilli, Farian re-did the album that was already planned for the original duo, renaming the 1991 album ''The Moment of Truth,'' and the duo, Davis and

, the ''Real Milli Vanilli''. The album was the only one the pair made, and it was never released in the US. It made it to Germany's Top 20 albums.

Personal life

Davis had a daughter, Jasmine Davis.

Death

Davis died in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on May 24, 2021, at the age of 66.

References

1954 births 2021 deaths People from Anderson, South Carolina Singers from South Carolina 20th-century American singers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany 20th-century American male singers {{US-singer-stub