Rob Pilatus, 32, a former model whose career as half the pop music duo Milli Vanilli crashed in disgrace and drug addiction after it was revealed that the group lip-synced its songs, died April 2 in a hotel room in Frankfurt, Germany.
Mr. Pilatus was alone when he died after consuming alcohol and pills, Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted Milli Vanilli producer Frank Farian as saying Mr. Pilatus had been drinking Thursday evening, but "we didn't know . . . that he was taking tablets that are very dangerous with alcohol."
An autopsy was being conducted to determine the exact cause of death, the newspaper said. Frankfurt police have refused to comment on the circumstances of the death. Mr. Pilatus and his Milli Vanilli partner, Fabrice Morvan, won a 1989 Grammy for Best New Artist after they made hits including "Blame It on the Rain" and "All or Nothing."
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But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on Milli Vanilli records; that was done by studio musicians who were not credited. Morvan said in an interview with the VH1 cable music network last year that he and Mr. Pilatus were deceived into fronting the phony group.
Mr. Pilatus had been in Germany in a drug treatment program, the newspaper quoted Farian as saying. The son of a U.S. soldier and a German mother, Mr. Pilatus was born in New York and grew up in Munich. He worked as a model and dancer before joining Morvan in 1988 to form Milli Vanilli.
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