Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills ( born March 22, 1957 as Stephanie Dorthea Mills in Brooklyn, New York) is an American R & B and soul singer. Between the late 1970s and early 1990s, you get about 30 hits on the U.S. R & B charts. Never Knew Love Like This Before 1980 was a worldwide hit and won a Grammy award. Previously, she also played a few years of success in the Broadway musical The Wiz, a role which earned her the name " The little girl with the big voice ".
Career
Stephanie Mills began her career as a little girl on Broadway. In the fall of 1968, she was the age of eleven her debut in the musical Maggie Flynn. In 1974, ABC her little acclaimed debut album Movin 'in the Right Direction. A year later made the role of Dorothy in the African-American musical The Wiz Mills a star. This role was played by the singer during a tour in 1976. In 1978, the preparations for the film version began, was chosen, however, the 13 years old singer Diana Ross in the lead role. In the meantime, Mills had signed a recording contract with Motown. The album For the First Time (1975 ) contained only songs by Burt Bacharach and David Hald, who took over the production. Trying to build Mills in place of Dionne Warwick, however, failed the LP was a commercial flop.
Mills was only in 1979 that conquer with the help of the then popular disco sound the charts. Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin ' was her first top 25 success in the United States. Even better, it ran with the gentle mid-tempo piece Never Knew Love Like This Before from the album Sweet Sensation. The song reached number 6 in the U.S. and received a Gold award. In the UK, the title was in the top 5 in the Netherlands ranked second Mills then became part of the most successful R & B stars of the United States. The albums Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin ', Sweet Sensation and Stephanie received between 1979 and 1981 Gold Awards for Never Knew Love Like This Before there was 1980 a Grammy and the following year she was also named best R & B singer with an American Music Award distinguished.
Mills put stylistically not fixed: Between pulsating disco songs she sang preferred ballads, but also songs that are attributable to the soul and R & B genre. Among successful duets with Teddy Pendergrass ( Two Hearts, Feel the Fire). Therefore, it managed Mills also through the 1980s to remain successful. Notable was among other things the series of number-one hits on the R & B charts from 1986 to 1989: I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love (1986) I Feel Good All Over, (You're Puttin ') A Rush on Me (1987 ), Something in the Way ( You Make Me Feel ) and a remake of the old ballad Home the Wiz (1989). With The Medicine song she succeeded in 1984, a number 1 in the U.S. Disco charts. In the same year she also appeared briefly again in the musical The Wiz on.
After the two are also distinguished with gold albums If I Were Your Woman (1987) and Home (1989 ), the success of Mills subsided slowly. After the neglected work Something Real Mills ended their seven -year collaboration with the record company MCA. In 1994 she took on the Gospel CD Personal Inspirations for an indie label. Ten years later, she attempted a comeback with Born for This! on their own label JM Records. 2010 appeared the single Yesterday.
Private
Stephanie Mills was in 1980 for a short time with Jeffrey Daniel, singer of the disco and funk band Shalamar, married. This was followed by marriages with Dino Meminger and Michael Saunders. Mills has a son named Farad. In interviews, Mills also expressed about a short love affair with Michael Jackson in the late 1970s.
Discography
Albums
- 2004: Born for This!