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Stephanie
Mills
has one
of the
most
distinctive
voices
in
contemporary
music,
an ultra
soulful songstress
whose on
stage
energy and
power
inspires
standing
ovations
wherever
she
performs.
She
is a
legendary
Grammy
and
American
Music
Award-winning
recording
artist
with
five
best-selling
albums and
ten
Billboard
#1
singles.
Over
the span
of a 25
year
illustrious
career,
Stephanie
Mills
has
distinguished
herself
as an
actress
and
performer
who is
as at
home on
the
Broadway
stage as
she is
in the
recording
studio.
Hit
records
such as
"I
Have
Learned
To
Respect
The
Power Of
Love,"
"Home"
and
"Whatcha
Gonna
Do With
My Lovin''
have
become
enduring
classics.
Stephanie's
critically
acclaimed
appearances
in shows
like the
four-time
Tony
Award-winning
"The
Wiz"
and
"Your
Arms Too
Short To
Box With
God"
have
assured
her of a
consistently
loyal
following
among
fans,
industry
insiders
and
critics
alike.
The
loyalty
that she
has
inspired
in her
audience
has seen
her
through
a
twenty-five
year
career
filled
with
accomplishments
and
achievements.
Stephanie's
journey
as an
enduring
performer
began
like
that of
so many
of her
contemporaries;
singing
gospel
in
church
in her
native
Brooklyn.
Her
vocal
abilities
became
evident
early on
and by
the age
of nine,
she was mesmerizing
crowds
in her
first
Broadway
musical
"Maggie
Flynn,"
sharing
the
stage
with
co-stars
Shirley
Jones and
the late
Jack Cassidy.
Other
early
credits
included
appearances
in such
pop
culture
classic,
shows
like
"Captain
Kangaroo,"
"Wonderama,"
"The
Electric
Company"
and
"String"
(presented
by the
Negro
Ensemble
Company
in New
York
City).
For
six
consecutive
weeks,
an
eleven-year
old
Stephanie
won the
famous
Amateur
Night at
the
renowned
Apollo
Theater
and
a first
recording,
"I
Knew It
Was
Love"
landed
her the
much-coveted
role of
Dorothy
in the
Broadway
musical
"The
Wiz"
at the
age of
fifteen.
For five
years,
Stephanie
wowed
packed
houses
with her
amazing
vocal
gift and
after
making
albums
for ABC
and Motown,
she
signed
with
20th Century
Records
in 1979.
Working
with
producers
James Mtume
& Reggie
Lucas,
Stephanie
recorded
"Whatcha
Gonna
Do With
My Lovin''"
and
by 1984,
she had
climbed
the
charts
with
major
hits:
"Sweet
Sensation,"
"Never
Knew
Love
Like
This
Before"
(a gold
single),
"Two
Hearts"
(a duet
with
Teddy Pendergrass),
"Keep
Away
Girls,"
"How
Come U
Don't
Call Me
Anymore?"
and
"The
Medicine
Song."
Stephanie
scored
three
best-selling
albums
in a row
with
"Whatcha
Gonna
Do.With
My Lovin'?",
"Sweet
Sensation"
and
"Stephanie"
in the
span of
just two
years.
The
'80s
were a
golden
period
for the
petite
vocalist:
signed
to MCA
Records,
Stephanie
was
responsible
for a
string
of hit
singles
and
albums.
"I
Have
Learned
To
Respect
The
Power of
Love"
(1986),
"I
Feel
Good All
Over"
and
"(You're
Puttin')
A Rush
On
Me"
(both
from
1987),
"Something
In The
Way (You
Make Me
Feel)"
and
"Home"
(both
1990
recordings)
all
topped
the
R&B
charts.
The 1987
album
"If
I Were
Your
Woman"
was No.
1 on the
R&B
Albums
chart
and was
a Top 30
pop
best-seller;
while
the 1989
album
"Home"
was also
a Top 5
R&B
and Top
100
charted LP.
Returning
to the
stage,
Stephanie
toured
the
country
in the
early
'90s
with
"The
Wiz"
and
during
the past
decade,
she has
appeared
in a
number
of
highly-acclaimed
roles in
such
shows as
"Your
Arms Too
Short
With
Box"
(starring
with
Teddy Pendergrass),
"Children
Of
Eden,"
"Ragtime,"
"Play
On"
(a
tribute
to Duke Ellington's
music),
"His
Woman,
His
Wife"
and
"Black
Nativity."
The
recipient
of NAACP
Image
Awards,
Stephanie's
multi-faceted
career
has also
included
recurring
roles in
popular
television
soap
operas
"Search
For
Tomorrow"
and
"One
Life To
Live."
In
1994,
Stephanie
returned
to her
gospel
roots
with
"Personal
Inspirations,"
an album
that won
praise
with
both
gospel and
secular
audiences,
netting
her
"Stellar
Award"
and
"Dove
Award"
nominations.
Stephanie
marked a
return
to
recording
in 1999
with the
dance
music
cut
"Latin
Lover,"
produced
by
Masters
At Work
and
in 2000,
she did
a duet
with BeBe
Winans
for his Motown
album
"Love
And
Freedom."
Stephanie's
music
has
frequently
been
sampled
during
the last
few
years and
in 2001,
she was
a
special
guest on
rapper DMX's
"The
Great
Depression"
album,
reprising
the
vocals
from her
first
1979 hit
"Whatcha
Gonna
Do With
My Lovin'"
for the
track
"When
I'm
Nothing."
Following
a
dazzling
performance
at
comedian
Sinbad's
Soul
Festival
in
Aruba,
Stephanie
began
touring
again in
2001 and
has been
wowing
audiences
on shows
with
artists
like The
O'Jays,
Teddy Pendergrass,
The Isley
Brothers,
Carl
Thomas
and at
festivals
that
have
included
Mary J. Blige,
India.Arie,
Alicia
Keys, Babyface
and Smokey
Robinson.
She
says,
"It's
been
wonderful
being
back onstage
and
singing
songs
from all
parts of
my
career.
So many
people
have
asked me
when I
would
have a
new
record
out and
I would
just say
'soon.'
I was
surprised
because,
so many
times,
people
forget
about
you if
you
don't
have a
new
release!
But then
after
the
birth of
my son
Farad
last
year, I
felt
revitalized.
I felt
like
singing
and
performing
again".
"I
think
I'm
more
creative
musically
and
when I
do a lot
of my
material
now, I
can
relate
to it
more
than
ever.
The
experiences
in life
make you
sing
differently.
And,"
she
adds,
"One
of the
results
of
having
my child
has been
that
it's
definitely
made my
voice
stronger.
I can
sing
higher and
hold
notes
longer."
Look
for
Stephanie
Mills to
make
another
mark in
her
wonderful
career
as fans
begin to
discover
the
creative
energy
and
soulful
singing
that is
a
mainstay
of her
voice.
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