Stephanie Mills

This article is about the musician. For the Canadian actor and voice actor, see Stephanie Anne Mills. For other people, see Stephanie Mills (disambiguation).
Stephanie Mills
Birth name Stephanie Dorthea Mills
Born (1957-03-22) March 22, 1957
New York City, New York, United States
Genres R&B, soul, gospel
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments piano, guitar, vocals
Years active 1966–present
Labels Motown, 20th Century, Casablanca, MCA, GospoCentric, LightYear, Expansion Records

Stephanie Dorthea Mills[1][2] (born March 22, 1957)[3] is an American R&B, soul and gospel singer, songwriter and Broadway star. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original Broadway run of the musical The Wiz from 1975 to 1977. The song "Home" from the show later became a No.1 U.S. R&B hit for Mills and her signature song. In the 1980s she scored five No.1 R&B hits, including "Home", "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love", "I Feel Good All Over", "(You're Puttin') A Rush on Me" and "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)". Mills' 1980 song "Never Knew Love Like This Before" won a Grammy Award for best R&B vocal performance.

Early life and career

Mills was born in Brooklyn, New York City.[4] As a child, she sang gospel music at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church, and began her career at age 9, appearing in the Broadway musical Maggie Flynn.[3] After winning Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater six weeks straight at age 11, she went on to become the opening act for the Isley Brothers.[3]

In 1973, Mills was signed to Paramount records by Michael Barbiero, and her first single "I Knew It Was Love" was released. She was later signed to Motown. Her first two albums there failed to produce a hit, and she left the label in 1976.

The Wiz and 1980s Success

Mills's career took a rise when she portrayed Dorothy in the Broadway musical The Wiz, a black American adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Her song "Home" from the show would become her signature tune for years, and would be covered later by Diana Ross for the movie adaptation three years later.

Commercial success in the music industry remained elusive until 1979, when she signed to the 20th Century Fox Records label. There, Mills found her niche in mainly disco music, recording 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's first gold record and the first major hit for the James Mtume-Reggie Lucas production team.

She quickly followed the success with 1980's Sweet Sensation, which featured Mills's hit "Never Knew Love Like This Before". The single became a #12 R&B and #6 Pop hit in 1980, as well as reaching #4 in the UK Singles Chart.[5] 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?", as well as the #3 dance chart hit "Pilot Error", which was her first dance hit in the U.S. In 1984, Mills had her third UK hit with "The Medicine Song" (#29),[5] which also reached #1 on the U.S. dance chart. On May 24, 1984, Mills returned to theater to star in a short-lived touring revival of The Wiz. The production closed on June 3, after 13 performances and 7 previews.

In 1985, Mills's recording of "Bit by Bit (Theme from Fletch)" was featured in the Chevy Chase film, Fletch, and reached #52 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and #78 on The Billboard Hot 100.[6]

Success for Mills had peaked until 1986, when her version of the Angela Winbush-penned "I Have 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; a three-week #1 R&B hit, "I Feel Good All Over" (a song her label mate Patti LaBelle did not wish to cover); and "You're Puttin' a Rush on Me", to name a few of the songs released. The album reached platinum status. That same year, she appeared in the NBC TV special, Motown: Merry Christmas along with other musical artists and actors, performing the song, "Christmas Everyday", which was written by actor/comedian Redd Foxx.

Mills's 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.

1990s to 2010s

Mills would record one more album (1992's Something Real) and a Christmas album before being released from her contract with MCA in 1992.

In 1993, she once again starred in the role of Dorothy in "The Wiz". This revival was also short lived, closing after 28 performances.

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, Mills took a break from recording to care for her son.

In 1997, Mills played 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 cast recording CD that resulted from this production.

In 2008, 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 (released on Expansion Records in the UK) on 3 August 2004. Her first single in over a decade, "Can't Let Him Go", garnered buzz at urban contemporary radio. Mills is currently touring. A 2-disc, career-spanning greatest hits compilation entitled Gold was released by Hip-O/Universal Music earlier last year. Mills just finished production of a live DVD recorded at BB Kings in New York which will be sold online and at her shows.

Mills made an appearance in the 2007 gospel TV series Sunday Best and was recently featured in a live interview on The Yolanda Adams Morning Show, where she mentioned that she now has her own record label (JM Records).

Mills performed prior to Pope Benedict XVI celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York on April 20, 2008.

Her track, "Yesterday", is available for download on iTunes. Towards the end of 2012, Mills released a new single "So In Love This Christmas", available for download.

In 2015, Mills was cast as Aunt Em in the NBC live musical production of The Wiz, forty years after her initial Broadway run in the show.[7]

Personal life

In 2002, Ebony magazine reported that Mills had been married in the 1980s for a brief period, to Jeffrey Daniel from the soul group Shalamar and again in the mid-1980s to Dino Meminger[8] but that both marriages had ended in less than two years.[9]

In 1993, Mills married a third time to Charlotte, North Carolina radio program manager Michael Saunders. Minister Louis Farrakhan[10] officiated the wedding ceremony. The couple divorced sometime later.

Mills has a son with Down Syndrome.[11]

Discography

Stage work

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ Motown Encyclopedia by Graham Betts
  2. ↑ Hogan, Ed. "Stephanie Mills Biography". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Hogan, Ed. "Artist Biography [Stephanie Mills]". AllMusic.com. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Stephanie Mills". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Roberts, David (1998). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 367. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ↑ "Fletch – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "Stephanie Mills Cast in 'The Wiz Live!' on NBC". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
  8. ↑ V109.9 "Happy Birthday Stephanie Mills" March 22, 2010. V1019.radio.com (2010-03-22). Retrieved on 2012-04-13
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Archived March 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Mills in "Stephanie Mills : Interview". Windy City Times. Chicago. August 11, 2010. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
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