Stephanie Mills

Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She rose to stardom as Dorothy Gale in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical The Wiz from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from the show later became a Number 1 U.S. R&B hit and her signature song.

During the 1980s, she had five Number 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)". She won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her song "Never Knew Love Like This Before" in 1981. Her albums What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin, Sweet Sensation and Stephanie went gold or platinum, all through 20th Century Fox Records. In 2025, Billboard named her one of the "75 Best R&B singers of All Time".

Stephanie Mills was born to Joseph and Christine Mills and raised in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Mills was raised Baptist and sang gospel music as a child at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church.

Mills began her professional career at age nine, appearing in the Broadway musical Maggie Flynn. After winning Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater six weeks straight at age eleven, Mills went on to become the opening act for the Isley Brothers. In 1973, Mills was signed to Paramount Records by Michael Barbiero, and her first single "I Knew It Was Love" was released. Mills was later signed to Motown after being suggested by Suzanne de Passe. Her first two albums there failed to produce a hit, and Mills left the label in 1976.

Mills's career took a rise when she portrayed Dorothy in the seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway musical The Wiz, an African-American adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The song "Home" was first performed by Mills in the stage production and was covered later by Diana Ross for the movie adaptation three years later. Mills’s 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', being Mills's first gold record.

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 number 12 R&B and number 6 Pop hit in 1980, as well as reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart. 1981's Stephanie featured a top hit for her and Teddy Pendergrass entitled "Two Hearts".

Her 1983 album, Merciless, featured her hit cover of Prince's "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?", as well as the number 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" (number 29), which also reached number 1 on the U.S. dance chart and number 8 on the R&B chart. On May 24, 1984, Mills returned to theater to star in a short-lived touring revival of The Wiz.

In 1985, Mills's recording of "Bit by Bit (Theme from Fletch)" was featured in the Chevy Chase film, Fletch, and reached number 52 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, number 78 on The Billboard Hot 100 and number 15 on the Dance Chart.