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. 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.
In 1978, she signed to 20th Century Records. 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.’. 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’, ‘Night Games’ and the radio-aired LP cut, ‘Don’t Stop Doin’ What Cha Do.’ 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’, 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 thesong, ‘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,’ 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, 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. 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 ’90’s.
