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 vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip sync to songs sung by session members. He owns the record label MCI and several subsidiaries. Over the course of his career, Farian has sold over 850 million records and earned 800 gold and platinum certifications. Career. Farian started as a trained cook before moving into the music  industry. In April 1967, he released a cover of Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful" under the name "Frankie Farian". In 1976, Farian's German-language cover of Dickey Lee's "Rocky" stayed at No. 1 for four weeks and received gold certification. Boney M.. In the early days of his career, he was keen to attain success as a solo artist, but made little impact on the popular music scene until his song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" (a remake of Prince Buster's song "Al Capone" from 1967), released under the pseudonym Boney M., became successful. He recruited a  line-up which included vocalists Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett along with a male and female dancer and his own additional vocals. Under the name Boney M, he achieved his biggest success across Europe and much the rest of the world with hits such as "Rivers of Babylon", "Rasputin" and a remake of "Mary's Boy Child". Far Corporation. Farian also started the supergroup Far Corporation (named after the first syllable of his last name), which featured Steve Lukather, David Paich, Bobby Kimball, Simon Phillips (all from Toto fame) and Robin McAuley. Far Corporation were the first act to chart  with a cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"; their cover was a top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number 8 in October 1985. Meat Loaf. In 1986, Farian produced and mixed the Meat Loaf album "Blind Before I Stop". He also sang backing vocals on the first single from the album "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries", which was credited to Meat Loaf featuring John Parr. Milli Vanilli. On 14 November 1990, Farian confessed to orchestrating the events leading to the Milli Vanilli scandal. As a producer, he assembled a group of session musicians and fronted it with  physically attractive dancers Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan. The story broke when Farian confirmed to the press that others had sung on the albums. As soon as these details emerged, Milli Vanilli's 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist was revoked, and at least 27 lawsuits were filed in the United States under U.S. consumer fraud protection laws. La Bouche, Le Click, Eruption, No Mercy. Following the Milli Vanilli controversy, Farian developed similar Eurodance groups La Bouche and Le Click. He also produced the 1997 version of "Tic, Tic Tac" by Chilli Feat. Carrapicho. Some other groups Farian has  been involved with are Eruption (whom he managed in 1977) and Latin pop band No Mercy based in Germany. Section::::"Daddy Cool" musical. On 15 August 2006, the musical "Daddy Cool" opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End, featuring Michelle Collins, Michael Harvey, Javine Hylton and singer/songwriter Darvina Plante. The £3 million show was produced by Farian and Robert Mackintosh. The story, written by Stephen Plaice with Amani Naphtali, is predominantly based on the songs of Boney M., but also features songs by Milli Vanilli and No Mercy. A second show opened 23 April 2007 in  Berlin, Germany, and toured in the Netherlands from August 2011 to February 2012, Spain (Palma de Mallorca) in July 2012, Switzerland from November 2015 to January 2016, and Germany 2016. Other activities. In 2006, Farian was credited as co-writing the song "Doin' Fine" with British producers Nathan Thomas and Carl M. Cox. (Other writers involved in the song were Chris Rudall, Baz Qureshi, Peter Wilson, Chris Richards and George Reyam.) Described as paying tribute to the 'sound' of Boney M., the song was essentially a new composition featuring the string arrangement from Boney M.'s 1976 number one hit  Daddy Cool. It was recorded by Australian pop singer Peter Wilson. It was initially released in the UK on 16 April 2007 in its extended format, entitled "Daddy's Cool 12" Mix", and reached number one on the EuroDanceHits EuroNRG Top 40 in May 2007. The original version of "Doin' Fine" was featured on Peter Wilson's debut album, "Follow Me", released in the UK on 8 October 2007. It was also recorded in 2008 by Amanda Lear. Other acts Farian collaborated with include Gilla, La Mama, Precious Wilson, Gift and Daniel Lopes. Personal life. Farian resides in Miami, Florida , US. He has a daughter named Yanina.