stephanie mills

Stephanie Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of 9. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the world-famous Apollo Theater a record six times. The victory lead to her being cast in her first Broadway role, the orphaned child of a runaway slave in the short-lived musical Maggie Flynn.



In 1973, Mills' musical career began as she opened for the Isley Brothers. A year later, after being discovered by Jackson 5 singer Jermaine Jackson, she signed with Motown Records. Her first two albums failed to generate a buzz as the label couldn't find Mills' sound, and she left the label in 1976.



In 1975, Mills' career took a rise when she portrayed Dorothy in an African-American adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz entitled The Wiz. Filled with a more urban style of music and scenery, The Wiz made Mills a star particularly because of her stellar performance of the song "Home." It would become her signature tune for years, and would be covered later by Diana Ross for the big-screen adaptation three years later and by Whitney Houston for her dramatic musical performance debut on TV in the early 1980s.



Musical success was eluded until 1979, when signed under the 20th century Fox record label, Mills found her breakthrough in disco music, recording now-classic danceable songs such as "Put Your Body In It," "You Can Get Over," and "What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'." The resulting album, What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin, was Mills' first gold record.



She quickly followed the success with 1980's Sweet Sensation, which featured Mills' biggest hit to date, the Reggie Lucas-produced "Never Knew Love Like This Before." The single became a 12 R&B and 6 Pop hit in 1980, even reaching 4 in the UK. 1981's Stephanie featured a top hit for her and Teddy Pendergrass entitled "Two Hearts," while her 1983 album, Merciless, featured her hit cover of Prince's "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?". In 1984, Mills had her second UK hit with "The Medicine Song" (29).



Success for Mills had peaked until 1985, when her version of the Angela Winbush-penned "I've Learned to Respect the Power of Love," hit 1 on the R&B singles chart. Mills truly returned, however, with her next release, If I Were Your Woman in 1987 under MCA Records, which she was now signed. The hits from the album include the title track, originally a hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1971, "I Feel Good All Over" (a song her label mate Patti LaBelle didn't want to cover), and "You're Puttin' a Rush on Me," to name a few of the songs released. The album reached platinum status.



Mills' success continued with 1989's Home album. The hits from that album include "The Comfort of a Man," the title track, a cover of her old standard from The Wiz and another song penned by Winbush titled "Something in the Way You Make Me Feel." It became another platinum record for Mills.



Mills would record one more album (1992's Something Real) and a Christmas album before being released from her contract with MCA in 1992. Mills released a live gospel recording in 1995 on GospoCentric Records entitled Personal Inspirations. The set was produced by Donald Lawrence and featured a spiritualized retooling of her hit "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love." Thereafter, Stephanie took a break from recording to care for her son.



Mills returned to musical theater in 1997, playing the lead in a major production of Stephen Schwartz's Children of Eden in New Jersey, which Schwartz has called "the definitive production" of the show. Mills was heavily featured in the soundtrack CD that resulted from this production.



In 2000, Mills began a comeback with singles recorded with BeBe Winans and rapper DMX to name a few. She made a comeback in independently-releasing Born For This on 3 August 2004. Her first single in over a decade, "Can't Let Him Go," garnered buzz at urban contemporary radio. From 2004-2006 Mills voiced the character of Serenity Zilla in Gene Simmons' animated television show My Dad the Rock Star on NickToons. Mills is currently touring. A 2-disc, career-spanning greatest hits compilation entitled Gold was released by Hip-O/Universal Music earlier this year.