WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Stephanie Mills

Stephanie Mills never knew love like this before but never knew another big hit after that.

Brooklyn born singer Stephanie Mills (b.1957) made her debut on stage in the Broadway production of The Wiz from 1974-79, where she performed the song “Home”, later to be recorded by Diana Ross for the 1978 film version. It was here that she was picked up by ABC Records and in 1974 she released her debut single, “Movin’ In The Right Direction”, taken from the album of the same name. Although neither were successful, it was only after she had ended her five year run with The Wiz that she could fully concerntrate on her music career and in 1979 she was back with “What’cha Gonna Do With My Lovin’?”, later to be covered by Inner City in 1989. The song went to No.22 on the US singles chart and Stephanie was off.

The album of the same name went Gold in America and after two more singles, Stephanie moved quickly on to her next project, the album “Sweet Sensation” in 1981. The lead single would become the biggest and ultimately her biggest ever. “Never Knew Love Like This Before” would go top ten across the world, making No.4 in the UK and No.6 at home. The album would eventually go Platinum for sales over more than a million copies and would see Stephanie team up with Teddy Pendergrass for the top 40 duet “Two Hearts”. The hits kept coming, though not on the scale of “Never Knew Love Like This Before”, throughout the 80’s with “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” (1983), “The Medicine Song” (1984) and, after twelve years in the business, her first R&B chart number one with “I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love” in 1987. Stephanie scored two more R&B chart toppers that year with “I Feel Good All Over” and “(You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me” (US No.85, UK No.62).

Stephenie’s albums kept pulling in the Gold and Platinum discs with “Stephanie Mills” in 1985 and “If I Were Your Woman” in 1987. In 1989, she finally released her original version of the song “Home” from The Wiz and it gave her a fifth US R&B number one. Stephanie entered the 1990’s with a top ten hit with “Comfort Of A Man” and released her first Christmas album in 1991. Her 1992 album “Something Real” found success and put her back in the UK top 75 with the singles “All Day, All Night” and “Never Do You Wrong”. Since then she has played live but only recorded sporadically with her last studio album, “Born for This!”, coming out in 2004. There have been a number of greatest hits albums as well as a few, rare stand-alone singles. She returned to the Christmas theme in 2012 with “So In Love This Christmas” and most recently released “Let’s Do The Right Thing” in 2021.

After an absence of 36 years, Stephanie Mills returned to Oz when she was cast as Aunt Em in a new Broadway prodcution of The Wiz in 2015. She has performed live on stage with Chaka Khan and also appeared in films and television series in cameo roles and in 2024, Stephanie will it the Soul Train Cruise where she will perform her greatest hits across America. Who never knew love like this before?(!)