The Crown Still Fits: Stephanie Mills
When you talk about real R&B royalty, the kind of queen who needs no introduction, that is, Stephanie Mills. I got to The Queen recently when she made a stop in Houston for The Queens: 4 Legends Tour with Patti Labelle, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight about the tour and this legend lives up to every bit of her legacy.
Picture this: a 15-year-old girl walks onto Broadway as Dorothy in The Wiz and owns that role for an iconic four-year run. That was Stephanie. From there, she built a career that has lasted over five decades, picking up a Grammy Award and multiple Soul Train Awards along the way. Her catalog is the soundtrack to our lives, “Never Knew Love Like This Before,” “I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love,” “Something in the Way You Make Me Feel,” and the classic “What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin’.”
When I asked about performing her classics over and over, did she get tired of that..she does not. What I love most? She keeps it fresh. “I approach them in a fresh way every time I do it,” she told me about singing her classics. And here’s a gem most folks don’t know, “‘Power of Love’ was originally written as a gospel song.” That’s church, family.
We couldn’t let the interview wrap without bringing up Michael Jackson — and Stephanie kept it real. “I love Michael. We had a really good friendship,” she said. With the biopic making noise at the box office, everyone wants her take. “They’ve always asked me questions about Michael Jackson because I think I was the only Black girl he dated.” As for her favorite Michael tracks? She didn’t hesitate: “Never Can Say Goodbye” and “I’ll Be There.” “They were written very well,” she said. And about “I’ll Be There”? “I just like when he says, ‘just look over your shoulder, honey.’ I just like the way he sang it — he delivered it.” That’s the kind of insider perspective only someone in the inner circle can give you.
She’s was everything you want a legend to be. Graceful, funny and lively.
Thank you Stephanie Mills!
