Boney M.’s producer was the German record producer, songwriter, and singer Frank Farian. He was born Franz Reuther on July 18, 1941, in Kirn, Germany, and passed away on January 23, 2024, in Miami, Florida.
Farian formed Boney M. in 1976 and was the group’s main songwriter and driving force behind their success. He wrote and produced many of their biggest hits, including “Daddy Cool,” “Rasputin,” “Rivers of Babylon,” and “Ma Baker.”
Farian was known for his unique production style, which often blended disco, reggae, and pop music. He also employed a technique of using session singers for the actual vocals while the four official members of Boney M. (Liz Mitchell, Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams, and Bobby Farrell) lip-synced on stage and in music videos. This practice was controversial at the time, but it helped to make Boney M. one of the most successful pop groups of the 1970s and 1980s.
Boney M. sold over 80 million records worldwide and had numerous chart-topping hits. They are considered one of the most successful disco groups of all time.
Here are some of the interesting facts about Frank Farian:
- He was also the creator of the pop group Milli Vanilli, who were later exposed for not actually singing their own songs.
- He was a successful solo artist in his own right in the 1960s and 1970s.
- He was awarded the Echo Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
I hope this information is helpful!