Stephanie Mills

singer

Personal Information

Born March 22, 1957, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of Joseph Mills (a New York City employee) and Christine Mills (a hairstylist); married three times, divorced twice.
Education: Took courses at Julliard School of Music.

Career

Appeared at Apollo Theatre at age 11; appeared in lead role of Dorothy in The Wiz, 1974; released debut album, Movin' in the Right Direction, 1974; released commercial breakthrough Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'; , 1979; toured with Teddy Pendergrass and the Commodores, early 1980s; signed with MCA label and released Stephanie Mills, 1985; encountered financial problems, early 1990s; largely retired from secular recording, early 1990s; released gospel album Personal Inspirations, 1995; various stage appearances, mid-1990s-.

Life's Work

Known to many theatergoers as the diminutive actress who created the role of Dorothy in the hit Broadway musical The Wiz, Stephanie Mills went on to enjoy R&B stardom in the 1980s and early 1990s. Mills's agile yet powerful mezzo soprano voice is an instantly identifiable instrument, and recording and touring urban contemporary music remained the focus of her creative energies for many years. In the 1990s, however, Mills largely retired from the pop-music business after enduring financial setbacks at the hands of unscrupulous business associates.

The daughter of a municipal-employee father and a hairstylist mother, Mills was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on March 22, 1957, and grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Her early musical experiences included singing in the choir at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church, but her inclination toward performing probably began before that: Mills was the youngest girl among six siblings, and she grew up being the center of attention. She showed musical talent from the start and was singing and dancing for the rest of the family when she was only three.

Entered Talent Shows

Mills virtually grew up on stage. She idolized vocalist Diana Ross, and there was never any doubt in her mind that she wanted to be a singer herself. While still very young, encouraged by her siblings, she began to take steps toward her goal. She began to enter talent shows around New York, and when she was nine the family answered a newspaper advertisement offering Broadway auditions for young performers. After several tries, Mills landed a role in the musical Maggie Flynn. That show bombed, but Mills made the acquaintance of Fame-star-to-be Irene Cara and other young performers. She performed in other plays, and at age 11 took the stage at New York's time-honored temple of African-American performing arts: the amateur-hour competition at Harlem's Apollo Theater.

The four-foot-nine-inch Mills delighted the Apollo crowds, and that appearance turned into a six-week run of first-place finishes. Mills ended up with an opening-act slot with the high-flying Isley Brothers vocal duo, and she made a valuable friend in lead vocalist Ronald Isley. Mills further honed her impressive vocal skills at New York's Julliard School of Music, and she began to attract the attention of various higher-ups in New York's musical and theatrical industries. She recorded her debut album Movin' in the Right Direction, for the ABC label in 1974. The album didn't sell well, but it was far from a wasted effort.

Several tracks on the album were Broadway-style numbers at which Mills already excelled, and the music caught the attention of theatrical producer Ken Harper. Harper was then in the planning stages of The Wiz, an innovative all-black Broadway stage musical version of the classic children's story The Wizard of Oz. Mills was already a fan of the 1930s Judy Garland film version of the story, and after three auditions was awarded the lead role of Dorothy. The Wiz ran for five years, and Mills, whose virtuoso vocals and dynamic presence were major contributors to its success, ended up appearing on television talk shows, winning a Tony award, and meeting U.S. President Jimmy Carter. She installed her family in a 27-room-house in the New York suburb of Mount Vernon.

Passed Over for Film Role

Mills was passed over in casting for the film version of The Wiz in favor of her childhood idol Diana Ross, but the snub might actually have worked to her advantage--the movie was widely panned, and Mills herself, according to Sepia, felt that it "could have been the first black classic, and it just wasn't that." Meanwhile, Mills's recording career was taking off. In 1976 she released the album For the First Time on the Motown label; it was produced and composed by the legendary pop songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Two years later she signed with the 20th Century label, and in 1979 she released the album Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'. That album cracked the R&B top fifteen and touched off a string of successful album releases, five of which were awarded gold records for sales of 500,000 copies. The 1980 LP Sweet Sensation went to number three on R&B album charts, and its hit single "Never Knew Love Like This Before" landed Mills in heavy radio rotation and showed the singer making a smooth transition from disco music to the romantic R&B of the 1980s. She won the Grammy award for Best Female R&B vocalist in 1980. Mills toured with such top stars as Teddy Pendergrass (with whom she recorded the duet "Two Hearts" on her Stephanie album of 1981) and the Commodores.

Mills hit a bump in her career in the early 1980s, signing with the Casablanca label and releasing three albums that enjoyed moderate success. She married twice (once to Shalamar lead vocalist Jeffrey Daniel), but both marriages ended in divorce. After a reprise of her Wiz role in 1984, Mills signed with the MCA label in 1985 and released the album Stephanie Mills. That album marked the beginning of a career resurgence for Mills; its R&B number one single "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love," featured lyrics that could be interpreted as either religious or secular and tapped Mills's gospel roots.

Family Threatened with Eviction

With several more chart-topping singles in the late 1980s, including a version of the Wiz number "Home" (1989) backed by the harmony group Take 6, Mills seemed to be flying high. But all was not well on the personal front. Discouraged by the failure of her two marriages, Mills also found that her business managers had played foul. "Millions have been taken from me," she told Ebony in 1992. Mills filed suit against her financial manager, John Davimos, and was quoted in Jet as saying that "when you find that those you trust prove themselves untrustworthy, it is necessary to take the appropriate action so that the same thing doesn't happen to other entertainers." The low point came when Mills's family was threatened with eviction from their Mount Vernon estate, but a loan from New York's non-profit Housing Assistance Corporation averted that crisis.

Mills put things back together with the help of the philosophy of motivational guru Marianne Williamson. She married North Carolina radio programmer Michael Saunders in 1992 (with Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam performing the ceremony), and, as she was quoted as saying in Jet, "I deliberately took myself out of the show-biz grind.... I live a normal life and only occasionally take work that comes my way."

When Mills did appear in public, it was on stage. She appeared in the mid-1990s revival of the classic gospel musical Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God that also featured disabled R&B vocalist Teddy Pendergrass, and in 2000 she appeared in the inspirational comedy His Woman, His Wife. Mills released the gospel album Personal Inspirations in 1995. She returned to secular music in 2002 with a track entitled "Latin Lover" that appeared on the Masters at Work production team's CD Our Time Is Coming.

Awards

Selected: Grammy award, Best Female R&B Vocalist, 1980.

Works

Selected discography

• Movin' in the Right Direction, ABC, 1974.
• The Wiz (original cast recording), Atlantic, 1975.
• For the First Time, Motown, 1976.
• Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin', 20th Century, 1979.
• Sweet Sensation, 20th Century, 1980.
• Stephanie, 20th Century, 1981.
• Tantalizingly Hot, Casablanca, 1982.
• Merciless, Casablanca, 1983.
• Stephanie Mills, MCA, 1985.
• If I Were Your Woman, MCA, 1987.
• Home, MCA, 1989.
• Christmas, MCA< 1991.
• Something Real, MCA, 1992.
• Personal Inspirations, Gospocentric, 1995.
• The Power of Love: A Ballads Collection, MCA, 2000.
• 20th-Century Masters: The Millennium Collection, MCA, 2000.

Further Reading

Books

• Contemporary Musicians, volume 21, Gale, 1998.
• Smith, Jessie Carney, ed., Notable Black American Women, Book 2, Gale, 1996.

Periodicals

• Baltimore Sun, November 1, 1995, p. E1.
• Billboard, December 5, 1992, p. 29.
• Ebony, December 1992, p 38.
• Jet, February 8, 1993, p. 36; August 9, 1993, p. 28; June 6, 1994, p. 32; January 17, 2000, p. 16.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 8, 2002, p. E2.
• Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2002, part 6, p. 40.
• New York Times, January 31, 2002, p. E5.
• Sepia, April 1980, p. 56.

On-line

• http://allmusic.com

— James M. Manheim

Biography

Stephanie Mills first came to fame as "the little girl with the big voice" as the star of the hit Broadway play, The Wiz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's classic book, The Wizard Of Oz. She had many R&B hits such as "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 one certified million selling single, "Never Knew Love Like This Before." In addition, she also had five gold albums: Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin', Sweet Sensation, Stephanie, If I Were Your Woman and Home.

Born on March 22, 1957 in Brooklyn, NY, Mills honed her rich vocals singing gospel music at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church as a small child. At age 9, she began appearing in the Broadway play Maggie Flynn. She was presented with first prize after winning "The Amateur Hour" talent contest six weeks straight at New York's famed Apollo Theater when she was nine. That success led to her being chosen as the opening act for The Isley Brothers, eventually becoming good friends with lead singer Ronald Isley. Many years later, Isley would manage and later marry singer/songwriter Angela Winbush, who co-wrote one of her number one R&B hits. Mills' debut album, Movin' In The Right Direction was recorded for ABC Records in 1974. A year later, she won the role of Dorothy in The Wiz. Her rendition of the beautiful ballad "Home" was a showstopper, mesmerizing audiences nightly for a number of years. The original cast recording of The Wiz was produced by Jerry Wexler and issued by Atlantic Records in spring 1975. Curiously, when The Wiz was made into a full length feature film by Motown Records' film division and Universal Pictures, Diana Ross played the role of Dorothy instead of Mills. The film ended up being a major flop.

Singer Jermaine Jackson referred Mills to Motown head Berry Gordy, who signed her to the label. Her Motown debut was For the First Time, written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, being issued in October 1976. For the First Time is a sweet affair with Mills convincingly covering Bacharach/David standards, most of which were originally recorded by Dionne Warwick. In 1978, she signed to 20th Century Records and was teamed with the hit production duo of James Mtume -- later leader of Mtume, who had a gold single with "Juicy Fruit" -- and Reggie Lucas. Her first LP for the label, Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin', went gold, going to number 12 R&B and number 22 pop on Billboard's charts in summer 1979 and spawned the singles, "Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin'" and "You Can Get Over." Her next LP, Sweet Sensation (#3 R&B, #16 Pop, spring 1980) yielded "Sweet Sensation," "Never Knew Love Like This Before," and the radio-aired LP track, "Try My Love." Around this time, she briefly married former Soul Train dancer Jeffrey Daniels of the group Shalamar. Next came the LP titled Stephanie in spring 1981, which also was a huge hit, peaking at #3 R&B and #30 Pop. The album included notable songs such as "Two Hearts" -- a midtempo duet with Teddy Pendergrass -- "Night Games" and the radio-aired LP cut, "Don't Stop Doin' What Cha Do."

In 1981, Mills switched to Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. Her LPs for the label included Tantalizingly Hot, Merciless and I've Got The Cure. During 1983, she had her own NBC-TV daytime talk show and reprised on role in a Broadway revival of The Wiz. She also signed with MCA Records, where she released her Stephanie Mills album.

The first single from the Stephanie Mills album was "Stand Back," in late 1985, which also included the passionate ballad "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love." "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love" was initially written by Rene Moore and Angela Winbush -- best known as the hit singing duo Rene & Angela -- as a gospel song and originally was recorded by Alton McClain and Destiny on their self-titled 1978 Polydor LP. The original version is available on Polygram's Power of Love: Best of Soul Essentials Ballads. Because of its massive radio play as an album track, Mills' version of "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love, -- produced by Philly Soul keyboardist Ron Kersey -- was reissued as an A side holding the #1 R&B spot for two weeks in spring 1986. Its follow-up, "Rising Desire" reached #11 R&B in summer 1986.

Her next LP's title cut was the Clay McMurray/Gloria Jones/Pam Sawyer song, "If I Were Your Woman," originally a 1971 #1 R&B, #9 Pop smash for Gladys Knight and the Pips. Philly-based producer Nick Martinelli gave Mills her second #1 R&B hit with "I Feel Good All Over," written by husband and wife songwriting duo, Gabriel Hardeman and Annette Hardeman. The song held the #1 R&B spot for three weeks in spring 1987. Originally submitted to Mills' fellow MCA labelmate Patti Labelle by the Hardemans, the track was included on Mills' LP If I Were Your Woman, issued June 1987 and peaked at #30 Pop in summer 1987. Paul Laurence produced and co-wrote with Timmy Allen the chugging '"(You're Putting) a Rush On Me" giving the singer her third #1 R&B hit in fall 1987. The single made it to #85 Pop and was followed by "Secret Lady," which landed at #7 R&B in late 1987. Her covers of "If I Were Your Woman" and "Where Is The Love" followed. All were included on her If I Were Your Woman album, which peaked at #1 R&B, #30 Pop in summer 1987. Following these hits, Mills contacted Ronald Isley about working with singer/songwriter/producer Angela Winbush who had hits as half of Rene and Angela and was forging a hit-filled career as a recording artist and producer for the group Body among others. The collaboration between Mills and Winbush resulted in another #1 R&B single, "Something In The Way You Make Me Feel," in summer 1989.

Having starred for five years in the smash Broadway show The Wiz and recorded the song "Home for the play's 1975 original cast soundtrack album, she wanted to record the song again as a posthumous tribute to the play's producer, Ken Harper, and the song's composer, Charlie Smalls. On her new version of "Home," Take 6 sung the background vocals. The song went to #1 R&B in late 1989 and was followed by "Comfort Of A Man" and "Real Love." The Home LP ended up peaking at #5 R&B, #82 Pop in summer 1989. She then recorded a charting single with J.T. Taylor titled "Heart To Heart" in late 1991. Her final MCA album, Something Real included the hit "All Day All Night" and "Never Do Wrong." Following this album, she recorded a gospel album, Personal Inspirations, for Interscope Records and recorded several tracks at Philadelphia International Records with Bunny Sigler among others in the late '90s. ~ Ed Hogan ~ Ed Hogan, All Music Guide

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