ROB PILATUS, 32, HALF OF POP DUO MILLI VANILLI

Hamburg, Germany (AP) - Rob Pilatus, a former model whose career as half of
the pop music duo Milli Vanilli crashed in disgrace and drug addiction
after it was revealed that the group lip-synched its songs, has died, Bild
am Sonntag newspaper said Sunday. He was 32.

Mr. Pilatus was alone when he died in a Frankfurt hotel room late Thursday
after consuming alcohol and pills, the newspaper reported.

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, the newspaper said. Frankfurt police
refused to comment on the report.

Mr. Pilatus and his Milli Vanilli partner, Fabrice Morvan, won a 1989
Grammy for Best New Artist after hits like "Blame it on the Rain" and "All
or Nothing."

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 since the fall undergoing a drug withdrawal
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 but grew up in Munich. He worked as a model and dancer before joining
Morvan in 1988 to form Milli Vanilli.