Stephanie Mills Backs Beyonce In Debate Over Modern Singers

Stephanie Mills backed Beyonce when Shannon Sharpe asked whether modern singers used their bodies to make up for weak voices.

“I don’t agree with that,” Mills said on the November 4 episode of “Club Shay Shay.” “I think that they follow the queen bee, Beyonce, who is definitely the queen.”

Mills added, “She can do all of that.” She still had reservations about sexual lyrics and twerking. She said newer artists had their own styles and could not be expected to perform like her generation. Mills said she would not dismiss their work.

Sharpe had asked about Chaka Khan’s criticism of modern performers. Khan made those remarks on “Table Manners” in March, when host Jessie Ware raised a discussion about singers putting their voices ahead of elaborate stage production.

“These women are doing any and every damn thing on stage and trying to sing, too,” Khan said. She argued that some performers leaned on physical routines to cover shortcomings. The criticism concerned newer performers in general.

Mills and Khan had shared a stage themselves. The two joined Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight for “The Queens! 4 Legends. 1 Stage” tour.

For Mills, the point of pride was what the women could still do with their voices. Asked about the tour’s biggest reward in her May BLACK ENTERPRISE interview, she said, “That we’re all still singing in our original keys.”

“I was telling them that we are survivors of this business,” Mills said. Her own path included the original Broadway production of “The Wiz” and major-label recording deals. She later started JM Records to control her releases. “I have my own label,” she said.

She also said she chose songs around the audience. Hits were part of the set, but the album tracks fans liked mattered too.