Amii Stewart

Amy Paulette "Amii" Stewart (born January 29, 1956) is an American disco and soul singer who found prominence with her 1979 U.S. Billboard number 1 hit cover of Eddie Floyd's song "Knock on Wood", often considered a classic of the disco genre. Other singles include "Light My Fire" (1979) and "Friends" (1985). Stewart is the stepsister of actress-singer Miquel Brown and aunt to Brown's daughter, singer Sinitta.

Career

Amy Stewart, the fifth of 6 children, was born into "a big, [strictly Catholic, but] fun loving, country style family... as my mum was one of thirteen children". Her father, Joseph Stewart II, signed her up for singing and dancing lessons in 1960, when she was four years old. Amy Stewart was already registered with the Actors' Equity Association, so she changed the spelling of her first name to Amii. She briefly enrolled in the Howard University in Washington but soon left for the Classical Repertory Dance Ensemble (CRDE) to study ballet and modern dance.

In 1975, before signing a contract at Ariola Records, Stewart worked at the touring company for the stage production of the musical revue Bubbling Brown Sugar, relocating to places of production, such as Miami, then New York city's Broadway and eventually London's West End, where she met Barry Leng, songwriter and record producer for Hansa Records.

The song "You Really Touched My Heart", a Leng/Simon May composition and produced by Leng, was Stewart's first recording, published by the end of 1977. An album followed, released in February 1979, which contained five Leng/May songs, one Leng/Morris song and three cover versions. The album yielded the single releases "Knock on Wood" and "Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven".