Stephanie Mills (born Stephanie Dorthea Mills in Brooklyn, New York, USA on… Read Full Bio ↴Stephanie Mills (born Stephanie Dorthea Mills in Brooklyn, New York, USA on 2 March 1957) is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.

Stephanie Mills first came to fame as "the little girl with the big voice" as the star of the hit Broadway play, The Wiz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's classic book, The Wizard Of Oz. She had many R&B hits such as "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love," "I Feel Good All Over," "(You're Puttin') A Rush On Me," "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)" and "Home" along with one certified million selling single, "Never Knew Love Like This Before." In addition, she also had five gold albums: Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin', Sweet Sensation, Stephanie, If I Were Your Woman and Home.

Mills honed her rich vocals singing gospel music at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church as a small child. 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, eventually becoming good friends with lead singer Ronald Isley. Many years later, Isley would manage and later marry singer/songwriter Angela Winbush, who co-wrote one of her number one R&B hits. Mills' début 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. The original cast recording of The Wiz was produced by Jerry Wexler and issued by Atlantic Records in spring 1975. Curiously, when The Wiz was made into a full length feature film by Motown Records' film division and Universal Pictures, Diana Ross played the role of Dorothy instead of Mills. The film ended up being a major flop.

Singer Jermaine Jackson referred Mills to Motown head Berry Gordy, who signed her to the label. Her Motown debut was For the First Time, written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, being issued in October 1976. For the First Time is a sweet affair with Mills convincingly covering Bacharach/David standards, most of which were originally recorded by Dionne Warwick. In 1978, she signed to 20th Century Records and was teamed with the hit production duo of James Mtume — later leader of Mtume, who had a gold single with "Juicy Fruit" — and Reggie Lucas. 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." Around this time, she briefly married former Soul Train dancer Jeffrey Daniels of the group Shalamar. 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" — a midtempo duet with Teddy Pendergrass — "Night Games" and the radio-aired LP cut, "Don't Stop Doin' What Cha Do."

In 1981, Mills switched to Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. Her LPs for the label included Tantalizingly Hot, Merciless and I've Got The Cure. 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." "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love" was initially written by Rene Moore and Angela Winbush — best known as the hit singing duo Rene & Angela — as a gospel song and originally was recorded by Alton McClain and Destiny on their self-titled 1978 Polydor LP. The original version is available on Polygram's Power of Love: Best of Soul Essentials Ballads. Because of its massive radio play as an album track, Mills' version of "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love, — produced by Philly Soul keyboardist Ron Kersey — was reissued as 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 the Clay McMurray/Gloria Jones/Pam Sawyer song, "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," written by husband and wife songwriting duo, Gabriel Hardeman and Annette Hardeman. The song held the #1 R&B spot for three weeks in spring 1987. Originally submitted to Mills' fellow MCA labelmate Patti Labelle by the Hardemans, 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 who had hits as half of Rene and Angela and was forging a hit-filled career as a recording artist and producer for the group Body among others. 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 album, she wanted to record the song again as a posthumous tribute to the play's producer, Ken Harper, and the song's composer, Charlie Smalls. 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 '90s.
After a hiatus from recording Mills returned with sixteenth album, "Born For This" in 2004. It includes the singles "Can't Let Him Go" and "Healing Time." Mills is currently working on her seventeenth album titled "Breathless." The lead single chosen is a song called, "Yesterday."

Everyday
Stephanie Mills Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Time I spend with You
Makes me feel that I can do
The impossible, yeah

It's the little things You see
That mean so much to me
Makes You incredible, yes it does

I don't know how I ever lived without You
You mean everything to me, now

[Chorus]
Everyday I'm living my life to please You, yes
In every way 'cause I want You to know
I love and need You

In my heart I'm singing Your praises
Every beat and every part, 'cause I want You to know
And show how much I do
'Cause I do

Hard to concede and at times I still believe
That I'm dreamin', dreamin'
Turn my sky from gray
Then You wipe my tears away
And gave me reason, yes You did

I don't know how I ever lived without You
You mean all the world to me
That's why

[Chorus]

In my heart I'm singing Your praises
Every beat and every part, 'cause I want You to know
And show how much I do
'Cause I do

My love, I pledge to You
The happiness I long for
Has come true

And if ever I've been sure of any one thing
It's here and now
When I knew no one could love me
You found a way somehow
That's why

[Chorus]

In my heart I'm singing Your praises
Every beat and every part, 'cause I want You to know
I love and need You

[Chorus]

In my heart I'm singing Your praises
Every beat and every part, 'cause I want You to know
I love and need You

[Chorus]

In my heart I'm singing Your praises
Every beat and every part, 'cause I want You to know
And show how much I do
'Cause I really really do

Time I spend with You

Makes me feel that I can do
The impossible, yea

Overall Meaning

Everyday by Stephanie Mills is a song that expresses the deep love and appreciation the singer has for her partner. The lyrics describe the transformative power of love and how it has changed the singer's life for the better. She acknowledges that it's the small things that her partner does for her that mean so much and makes them incredible. The singer also recognizes how her partner has helped to turn her life around, wiping away her tears and giving her a reason to live. She expresses her undying love and devotion to her partner, pledging that the happiness she longed for has come true, thanks to her partner's love.

The chorus of the song reveals the depth of the singer's love for her partner, expressing her desire to please and love her partner in every way. She declares her love and need for her partner in her heart and pledges to sing their praises every day, letting them know how much she loves and appreciates them.

In summary, Everyday by Stephanie Mills is a love song that celebrates the transformative power of love and the joy of finding a partner who loves and accepts you for who you are.

Line by Line Meaning

Time I spend with You
Being with You gives me the hope and strength to achieve the impossible

Makes me feel that I can do
Being with You makes me feel like I have the power within me to accomplish anything I set my mind on

The impossible, yeah
Even things that may seem impossible become possible when I am with You

It's the little things You see
Even the small things You do for me mean so much and show how incredible You are

That mean so much to me
The little things that You do for me hold a special place in my heart and bring me immense joy

Makes You incredible, yes it does
The way You treat me and care for me makes You an amazing and incredible person

I don't know how I ever lived without You
I cannot imagine my life without You anymore, You have become everything to me

You mean everything to me, now
You have become the most important and valuable thing in my life right now

Everyday I'm living my life to please You, yes
I strive every day to make You happy and feel loved because You mean so much to me

In every way 'cause I want You to know
I will do anything to show You how much I love and need You

I love and need You
My feelings for You are pure and genuine, and I cannot live without You

In my heart I'm singing Your praises
I am full of gratitude and admiration for You, and my heart sings praises to You all the time

Every beat and every part, 'cause I want You to know
Every part of my being celebrates You because I want You to know how special and important You are to me

And show how much I do
I will always find ways to show You how much I love and need You

Hard to concede and at times I still believe
It can be difficult for me to admit my faults and weaknesses, and sometimes I still doubt myself

That I'm dreamin', dreamin'
Being with You and feeling this much love and happiness feel like a dream come true

Turn my sky from gray
You have the power to take away the sadness and darkness in my life

Then You wipe my tears away
You comfort me and heal my pain whenever I am feeling sad or hurt

And gave me reason, yes You did
You gave me a reason to live and to be happy again

My love, I pledge to You
I promise that my love for You is true and unwavering

The happiness I long for
You are the source of the happiness I have been seeking all my life

Has come true
My love for You and being with You have fulfilled all my dreams and wishes

And if ever I've been sure of any one thing
If there is one thing I am certain of, it is my love for You

It's here and now
My love for You exists in this moment, here and now

When I knew no one could love me
There was a time when I felt unlovable and alone, but You have shown me that I am worthy of love and have loved me unconditionally

You found a way somehow
You have found a way to love me and make me feel whole again, even when I thought it was impossible

Cause I really really do
I love You with all my heart and soul

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BENJAMIN WINANS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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