Stephanie Mills, born Stephanie Dorthea Mills, came into the world in Brooklyn, New York, in March 1957. She became a renowned American R&B and soul singer as well as a Broadway star. Read more about the singer’s career and biography at brooklyn-trend.com.
A Church Foundation
Mills honed her powerful vocals by singing gospel music at Brooklyn’s Cornerstone Baptist Church as a child. At the age of nine, she began performing in the Broadway production Maggie Flynn. She won her first award after winning the talent competition The Amateur Hour at the famed Apollo Theater in New York City for six consecutive weeks at just nine years old. This success led to her being cast as an opening act for The Isley Brothers, and she soon became friends with lead singer Ronald Isley. However, Stephanie Mills first gained widespread recognition as “the little girl with the big voice” in the popular Broadway production The Wiz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Later, she had numerous R&B hits, including I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love, I Feel Good All Over, (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me, Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel), and Home, along with her million-selling certified single Never Knew Love Like This Before. She also released five gold albums: Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin’, Sweet Sensation, Stephanie, If I Were Your Woman, and Home. But that all came later.
Mills’ debut album, Movin’ In The Right Direction, was recorded for ABC Records in 1974. A year later, she played Dorothy in The Wiz. Her rendition of the stunning ballad Home had a profound impact, enchanting audiences night after night for several years. Interestingly, when The Wiz was adapted into a feature film by Motown Records and Universal Pictures, the role of Dorothy was given to Diana Ross instead of Mills. The film ultimately turned out to be a major box office failure.
A Short-Lived Marriage
In 1978, the singer signed with 20th Century Records and collaborated with the hit-making production duo James Mtume and Reggie Lucas. Her first album with the label, Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin’, went gold, reaching No. 12 on the R&B charts and No. 22 on the Billboard Pop charts in the summer of 1979. The album spawned hit singles such as Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin’ and You.
Her next album, Sweet Sensation (1980), featured the hits Sweet Sensation, Never Knew Love Like This Before, and the radio-friendly track Try My Love. Around this time, she had a brief marriage to former Soul Train dancer Jeffrey Daniels of the group Shalamar.
Stephanie Mills’ first major single in late 1985 was Stand Back, which included the heartfelt ballad I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love.
The highlight of her next album was a rendition of the song If I Were Your Woman, originally written by Clay McMurray, Gloria Jones, and Pam Sawyer. Producer Nick Martinelli helped Mills achieve her second No. 1 R&B hit with I Feel Good All Over, a song penned by songwriting duo and married couple Gabriel Hardeman and Annette Hardeman. The song held the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts for three weeks in the spring of 1987. Initially intended for Mills’ MCA labelmate Patti LaBelle, the song was instead included on Mills’ album If I Were Your Woman, which was released in June 1987 and climbed to No. 30 on the pop charts that summer.
Paul Laurence produced and co-wrote You’re Puttin’ A Rush On Me with Timmy Allen, which became her third No. 1 R&B hit in the fall of 1987. These were followed by covers of If I Were Your Woman and Where Is The Love. All of these songs were included on her album If I Were Your Woman, which topped the R&B charts and reached No. 30 on the Pop charts in the summer of 1987.
Following these successes, Mills collaborated with Ronald Isley, leading to a partnership with singer, songwriter, and producer Angela Winbush. This collaboration resulted in yet another No. 1 R&B hit, Something In The Way You Make Me Feel, which topped the charts in the summer of 1989.
A Broadway Career
After performing in The Wiz on Broadway for five years and recording the song Home for the original 1975 cast soundtrack, Stephanie Mills re-recorded the song as a tribute to producer Ken Harper and composer Charlie Smalls. Her new rendition of Home reached No. 1 on the R&B charts in late 1989, followed by Comfort Of A Man and Real Love. The Home LP peaked at No. 5 on the R&B charts and No. 82 on the Pop charts in the summer of 1989.
Mills then recorded a duet with JT Taylor titled Heart To Heart in late 1991. Her final MCA album, Something Real, included the hits All Day All Night and Never Do Wrong. After this album, Mills recorded a gospel album, Personal Inspirations, for Interscope Records in the late 1990s and worked on several tracks for Philadelphia International Records with Bunny Sigler.
Following a recording hiatus, she returned in 2004 with her sixteenth album, Born For This, featuring singles such as Can’t Let Him Go and Healing Time. She later released her seventeenth album, Breathless, with the lead single Yesterday.
