Frank Farian, Boney M founder and Rasputin hitmaker, dies aged 82

He also founded pop acts No Mercy and Milli Vanilli over the course of his career.

Born Franz Reuther in Germany, Farian trained as a cook before discovering the world of rock and roll. He renamed himself Frank Farian and formed the band Frankie Boys Schatten.

Through Boney M, Farian achieved his biggest success in Europe. In 1974, he recorded Baby Do You Wanna Bump and it was released in 1976 as a single and on the album Take the Heat off Me.

"The success was a huge surprise," Farian once told German news agency DPA. "I had always thought I wouldn't make it. It didn't look like it at first."

Over the course of his career, Farian also dipped his toes into the theatre world and in 2006 the musical Daddy Cool opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End. The cast included the likes of Michelle Collins, Michael Harvey and Javine Hylton.

Predominantly based on the songs of Boney M, the musical also featured songs by Milli Vanilli, Eruption, La Bouche and No Mercy. The show toured in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

For most of his adult life, Farian lived in Miami. He had three daughters and a son with his former wife Chinya Onyewenjo.

The music producer previously had heart surgery in 2022. "My heart valve works wonderfully," Farian told Bild (as per The Mirror). "Mick Jagger also received exactly the same heart valve. I have a good pig in me! And I'm very grateful for that."

Original Boney M lead singer Liz Mitchell, said from her home in Oxfordshire: "Our work was truly blessed and so enjoyed by people around the world who had the privilege to hear it down the years.

"The testimonies come from the hearts of those who heard it and I am so grateful to the God of music that allowed our coming together, to create and present to the world the music of Boney M.

"We shared and united under a star which rose above and beyond what we ever dared to expect. I say well done to the work that we did. Rest in peace Frank."