Amii Stewart

Amii Stewart
Amii Stewart / December 2013 / Capri Film Festival
Background information
Birth name	Amy Paulette Stewart
Born	(1956-01-29) January 29, 1956 (age 60)
Origin	Washington, D.C., US
Genres	Disco, soul, dance-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, dancer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Ariola, RCA
Associated acts	Mike Francis
Website	http://web.tiscalinet.it/amiistewart/home.htm

Amy Paulette "Amii" Stewart (born January 29, 1956) is an American disco/soul/dance-pop singer, dancer and actress most famous for her hit disco record cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood". Stewart is the stepsister of actress-singer Miquel Brown and aunt to Brown's actress-singer daughter Sinitta.

Amy Stewart was born 5th out of 6 children. Her father, Joseph Stewart II, signed her up for singing and dancing lessons in 1960, when she was four. There already was an Amy Stewart registered with Actor's Equity, so she changed the spelling of her name to Amii. She began attending Howard University in Washington but soon left to work with the D.C. Repertory Dance Company, studying ballet and modern dance. Before being signed to Ariola Records, Stewart was in the touring company of the stage production Bubbling Brown Sugar in 1975, firstly in Miami, then Broadway, and eventually London's West End, where she met Barry Leng, a record producer for Hansa records.

At the end of 1977, "You Really Touched My Heart" a Leng/Simon May composition, produced by Leng, was Stewart's first recording. An album followed, which contained five Leng/May songs, one Leng/Morris song and three cover versions.

Her first single, a disco cover version of the 1966 Eddie Floyd hit "Knock on Wood" (Floyd/Cropper), reached number one in the U.S. in April 1979, and earned her a platinum record and a Grammy Award nomination. It also reached number 6 in the UK, and number 2 in Australia. In the same year, Amii Stewart followed up with another cover, this time The Doors' classic "Light My Fire", which reached #5 in the UK, although only climbed to #69 in the US. She recorded it as a medley, incorporating "137 Disco Heaven" and entitled "Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven".